Recreating History, Repairing Mistakes
by xJordanKayX
Summary: Alice Cooper and FP Jones finally get their try at an actual relationship. A look on how this will work out and how their newfound closeness will be tested when FP gets arrested for Jason's murder. #Sequel to Reliving History, Repeating Mistakes#
1. Chapter 1

Author's note:

First of all I want to start of with a huge thank you for all the Kudos, reviews, favs, bookmarks etc., I have received for the first part of this Story, and also for everyone who has just been reading and/or giving me ideas.

Before I will start this fanfic (and yes, chapter one will be posted immediately after this), there are some things I want/need to clear up.

Since I never planned on continuing this to include actual events of the show, I did not really bother with checking if the timeline completely fits, so please bear with me here and just pretend it does when we reach a point where I might not be able to talk my way around the fact that I might have messed it up a little somewhere earlier.

This is going to be an Alternate Universe story still. It will feature FP's involvement with Jason's murder and it will focus on how their newfound relationship might cope with that. There will be some significant changes to some parts of the original events, but I still try to overall keep with canon, too, and will be following season 2 events and episodes down the line.

I will be introducing people like Tony and Sweet Pea for example earlier in this story than they had been introduced in the show, because I'm focusing on the South Side and the serpents and they did not just appear in town the moment Jughead changed schools.

However as much A/U as this is, I will NOT be introducing characters we are promised to still be seeing on the show when it comes back on air in January. At least not, until we finally do know them and I don't have to make my own characterization, which would probably mess with the concept of staying as canon as possible while being A/U still. That means, if you want to meet Betty's long lost brother, for example, you'll have to wait until I reach the point in my story where he actually shows up in Riverdale.

I had people pointing out, that I need to break up Betty and Jughead, because their parents being together makes them essentially brother and sister. Let me just clarify once and for all, that this is stupid and crap, and I like Bughead, and as long as they are not broken up in canon, I will do no such thing in my story either. (Still hoping they get to work things out again on the show!)

I also had people pointing out, that I'm off with my past timeline, since I'm always going with 20 years and that won't fit. IT DOES. We have no indication of the actual age of the parents and with Polly being 18 and Betty 16/17 they could totally have an older brother who's barely 20. I know, Betty said he's in his early twentys, but is this really something to get your panties in a twist over? It's my Alternate Universe Timeline, and if I make it twenty years, then it's twenty years.

I think that's it, at least for now. Thank you for sticking through my rambling. Now read, review and enjoy and maybe tell me what you think :)

Love,

Jordan


	2. Chapter 2

Her head hits the counter with an audible sight of disapproval when the second knock sounds through the trailer. They had ignored it the first time, intend on ignoring the next few, too until their unexpected guest would get bored and take a hike. But he had suddenly stopped behind her, * within her * and let out a sound of realization, as if he had just remembered something she had no idea about. Then she'd heard the voices.

"Maybe they're still asleep" They can just so make out Betty's voice through the closed door. It's like the teenager's pitched her speech low on purpose, so not to wake anyone should they actually still be asleep. The fact that they are standing far enough away from the bedroom, and behind a surprisingly solid door, doesn't seem to register in Betty's mind at the moment. "Why don't you just use your key?"

It had been Alice's idea to invite the children over for breakfast, in an attempt to maybe bring some normalcy into all this mess she's created. She's still Alice, so she blames FP for a good part of it, too, but she's aware, the only one who had been actively destroying her marriage, had been her. So in the spirit of fixing things, she had extended the invitation some days earlier and had been pleasantly surprised when her daughter hadn't shut her down immediately. She hadn't accepted on the spot either, but after a lengthy conversation with her sister, who had refused to come because this was something between the two of them, the girl had texted her mother they'd be there on Saturday.

Betty had kept her promise, but now Alice wishes she'd never came up with the idea. Why did it have to be nine o'clock breakfast at their trailer? Why couldn't she have made it twelve o'clock lunch at Pop's? Or seven o'clock dinner anywhere but here? Because it wouldn't have mattered, wouldn't have changed their current situation in the slightest. They still wouldn't have been able to keep their hands off of each other, and probably still would have ended up half naked on the nearest solid surface just minutes before they should be ready.

After a very, very long night, and three orgasms on her part just since they'd woke up this morning she'd been sore enough to promise herself she'd kill him if he tried to touch her before next week. And then he had walked out of the bathroom in loose fitting sweatpants and shirtless, hair still damp from his shower and she'd forgotten all about that. She had abandoned her attempt to set the breakfast table, shimmied out of the barely there scrap of underwear she'd thrown on earlier and had walked up to him, hips swaying and a mischievous glint in her eyes. The last time she can remember being that horny was when she had been pregnant with Betty, but since she adamantly refuses to indulge that idea (It's not like it would be way too early to feel like that anyway), she puts it down to just him. She would have been contend in doing nothing but him back when she'd been a teenager, too. When he had broken their kiss and bent her over the counter she didn't even remember why they were out off bed at this hour anyway.

"And what if they're not * sleeping*?" Jughead might not have told his girlfriend about this particular occurrence, but he has his reasons for not just barging into his father's trailer using his key. Seeing your father with his hands down his girlfriend's pants makes you rethink things like that. He had been pretty confident about not relaying what he'd walked into without the adults' pleading looks. The last thing either three of them needed had been to make this already delicate situation even worse than it is.

"Eww..." It's the sound of her daughter's voice that finally gets the two adults into motion. He pushes away from her and she has to bite her lip, hard, to keep any sudden, loud noises from spilling out at the sensation. She incredibly worked up and he's still painfully hard, but she slips past him to retrieve her panties from where she's let them fall earlier and pushes him softly in the direction of the bedroom.

"You should go take care of that" It's a whisper, because she doesn't trust for her voice not to carry through the door and the still waiting teenagers. They're both surprised the door hasn't been opened yet despite all of his son's protests. There's also a teasing smirk on her lips when she brushes her fingers lightly over his boxers that leaves no question to what she thinks he should be taking care of.

"Believe me" He starts, grabs both her wrists in his hands to keep her from torturing him further and leans down to kiss her softly. "The mere thought of our children outside that door is * taking care of that *" He captures her lips again in a small kiss, but she snakes the hand he's released behind his head and holds him in place. Sneaking his tongue past her lips, he kisses her slowly and thorough, until there is another knock on the door. This time, it's followed by the distinctive sound of a key being inserted into the lock and they reluctantly pull apart completely.

Upon his slight insistence, that consists of a gentle shove into the hallway, Alice leaves. On her way to the back of the trailer, she hears FP great the two teenagers and lingers long enough to hear the excuse he's come up for not opening the door. It's a lie she should probably know about and get behind, because the last thing she needs is telling their children what they actually had been up to.

They had left a window open in the bedroom, and the cool winter air feels like heaven on her overheated skin. She just wishes it would cool down something else, too. She reaches inside the closet, pulls out a pair of yoga pants and one of his shirts – she doesn't bother with a bra, but she might need some dry panties. Alice can't help but imagine what her daughter will think of her attire; it's not a look she's worn the last two decades. But then again, she likes to think, that she's not the same Alice she's been those twenty years either. She at least * feels * like the Alice she'd been when she was a teenager – more reckless, open and open-minded and a lot more fun.

She hasn't seen Betty since Tuesday when she'd left Pop's after laying her cards out on the table. But they had exchanged a few text messages and there has even been a phone call involved Alice calls a win, however brief it had been. The girl's still mad at her, and she understands that but that doesn't mean she's not prepared to fix things. This breakfast meeting is a step in the right direction Alive hopes.

Polly had been by for lunch the day before, strategically arriving while FP's been at work and leaving just before he'd gotten back home. She doesn't really know the man and she can see how important he is to her mother and so she decided she doesn't want to meet him in the boyfriend capacity until she has gotten her head around the entire situation and knows where she herself wants to stay in all this. She wants to like him, wants to be able to make her own judgment of him without being clouded by anger about the current situation and whatever else might be lingering under the surface she just hasn't realized is there yet.

But lunch has gone incredibly well, even better still than both of the women would have expected, and Alice has been to chicken to mention it to him yet, but Polly would like to do Friday lunch a weekly occurrence and the girl's willing to stay to officially meet him in a week or two.

She'd liked him when they had been over for dinner at the house just before all this blew up in their faces, has told her mother as much, but that had been as the father of her sister's boyfriend. That had been different. At least that what she tells herself and her mother, but it's really not. He's been a charming, nice and caring man when he had 'only' been Jughead's dad, and no matter the circumstances he'd come to be dating their mother, he would still be just that if Alice introduced him as her boyfriend or not. Her mother had been the one to tell her where the real problem lay. Polly is guilty she would betray her father should she come to like her mother's new man. In her daughters' eyes FP * has * to be the bad guy, the one they don't ever want to get to know, because he's not just the new man in their mother's life, but he'd stolen her right from under their father's hands; ripped her out off a marriage that had been nothing but perfect. All of them know that that's not what really happened, even Hal, who's avoiding her to let his bruised ego heal and she doesn't even blame him. It's easier to pretend it is, though.

Alice had given a lengthy monologue about how, no matter what he thinks of * her *, Hal would never hate Polly or Betty for developing any kind of relationship with FP Jones. By the end of her speech she almost believed it herself, but she wasn't about to let her daughter see the slight doubt in her eyes.

In all honesty, she has no idea how her soon-to-be ex-husband would react to any of this. She used to be able to read him so perfectly, to manipulate him even if she had the need or simply the urge to. He's never been boring per se, but he's been predictable in his thoughts and reactions to particular events and situations. But, she figures, she's never seen him be put in * this * situation and so it's the first time since she knows him, that she can't predict what he might or might not do. Or say. And to whom. She * does * highly doubt, that he would let his anger at her out at their children and she's not actually afraid of that, but she's seen stranger things happen, too.

She breaks out of her thoughts when she closes the bathroom door behind her silently. She's heard him casually mention she's still in there, so she should probably not make too much noise entering. There's not enough time for either of the two things battling over the top spot in her mind – not even if she got rid of the feeling between her legs * while * showering – and so she quickly strips off his shirt and replaces it with the new one she'd brought. After slipping into her underwear and pants, she drags a dripping washcloths over her face and neck, making sure to get a few droplets onto the collar of her shirt. Then she swipes her head under the running faucet and wraps a towel over her dripping hair. She leaves the bathroom looking like she'd actually been in there as long as he'd said she'd been and actually did what she was supposed to do in there.

She enters the kitchen while untangling the towel from her hair again and drying her wet locks. And then she does a perfect imitation of being startled by their children's presence, throws the hair towel onto the counter carelessly, trying to ignore the exact position it lands in and walks over to engulf both of them in a quick hug. She hasn't hugged her daughter since before the day all this got so much more complicated, and she's pretty sure, she hasn't hugged Jughead ever, but it seems the natural thing to do. It's what she would have done had they shown up for a visit at the house in a future in which Betty wasn't living at home anymore. She needs to stop overthinking things and comparing her actions to what she would have done once upon a time.

Neither Betty nor Jughead pull away form her advances and she takes this as a good sign. Maybe they'll be on more even footing when breakfast is done. "You're here already" She makes a show out of looking at the wall clock, as if she didn't know they are a half hour past her initial invitation because the children had shown up at least fifteen minutes late and they had taken their time letting them in. "Mhh, guess I must have lost track of time" With a shrug of her shoulders she usher the kids into seats around the table and helps FP bring the last few things over from the kitchen.

"I called to tell you, but you must have been otherwise occupied" He tells her when she passes him on her way to the coffee maker. She leans up to place a small kiss on his lips and stabs her elbow into his ribs at his suggestive leer. It's not like he know exactly what she did * not * do in the bathroom in the five minutes she actually had in there.

She glances over her shoulder at the table to see the children engrossed in their own conversation for now, and so she leans over to whisper in his ear. "Don't worry, after breakfast I'm all yours" Then she bites his earlobe lightly, dragging her teeth along the soft flesh to convey just what she means by that and leaves him standing there, uncomfortable adjusting the collar of his shirt. It's the first time she notices he's even wearing one. A moment later she joins the three of them at the table like this is nothing they haven't done before and all four of them try to pretend this is not awkward.

It still is, but not in the really bad way Betty thought it would be. She's still pissed and definitively not over her mother cheating on her father, but she finds that she's not all that mad about her mother dating her own boyfriend's father. She has nothing against FP, and, watching them all through their meal, she has to reluctantly admit that the two adults make a good couple. From the outside as well in their personalities and how they talk and act around and with each other. She has been living in the same house as her parents for the last 16 years and she can't honestly say she's ever seen her mother that happy or carefree in her actions towards her father. She's not prepared to let her mother off easy, not by a long shot yet, but maybe now it's her time to reach out just that tiny bit.

They spend breakfast with small talk, school and light topics that don't touch on the issue at hand and, for the first conversation where nobody stalks out or yells, they all decide that that's perfectly where the conversation should reside. They'll touch on the important stuff soon enough. And as a result, this whole situation is still uncomfortable in a way, but at least there is no uncomfortable silences and awkward glances.

It's one step in the right direction and she hopes to god, that they won't be taking the inevitable two steps back tomorrow.


	3. Chapter 3

She doesn't want to have this fight here or right now – or anywhere else or ever for that matter. But that doesn't seem to be an option, as he's already pretty much into it. And they haven't even really started to argue yet, but somehow her opening her mouth to say something to him, after wistfully taking in her surroundings, told him exactly where her thoughts had been. It's also pretty clear that he doesn't want them to be anywhere near there. This is her life though, and if she decides she wants to rejoin the Serpents, then he doesn't get to have a say in that. It's not like he's the leader of said gang, so how's he in any way allowed to forbid her that?!

They hadn't even actually set foot into the Whyte Wyrm when a strong feeling of nostalgia had hit her and she'd know without a doubt, that this is where she belonged; that this is probably where she had belonged for the last twenty years, that no matter how much she wanted to leave this place when she had been a teenager, this was her home and it had never actually left * her *. The decision had made itself then. Without conscious thought she had found herself picturing herself walking in there with her old serpent jacket, head high, hips swaying and that gleam in her eyes that had always been there when she'd been younger. And that smug attitude that had gotten her into trouble way more often that even she would like to admit.

Then they had walked inside and her eyes had taken in everything around her and everything had been different in the way that she hasn't sat foot in here for two decades, and everything still looked exactly the same as the last time she'd been in here. There were people she recognized, some she had called friends back in the day, some she'd only been acquainted with. There were people she didn't know. There were teenagers she'd never seen before but could place them into the right family without even trying; others she had no idea. There were also people missing. She's felt familiar enough, that she had stopped in the middle of the room, eyes resting on her from all around the bar, and when he turned around because their joined hands had reached its limit, she knew he could tell exactly what she's thinking. She'd also seen the flash in his eyes that told her this would not be an easy conversation to be held and would most likely end up in their first fight. She'd actually hoped they'd have * that * over something else.

"No" He says before she can even find the words to say what's on her mind. He turns then, tugs at their joined hands to get her moving, but she won't budge. This is still not his decision, and no matter how much she loves him, he needs to understand that.

"You have no idea what I was going to say" She tries the easy way, tries to evade the topic. She doesn't have to join the Serpents right now, they can have this confrontation later at home – or at least in the back where she knows he has an office located. He's still holding her hand, has taken the other one in his, too. Maybe this isn't going to end as bad as she thinks it will.

"You were going to say you want to rejoin, and that I don't have a say in this" Shit, he still knows her way too good. It's the one thing that had bothered her before, hat she couldn't hide anything from him. He's been able to read her like a book from the very first day they'd met when they were six. That doesn't seem to have changed at all, and it's just that bit frustrating, after spending twenty years with a mask in place no one was able to penetrate unless she let them.

"So what if I was?" She huffs with a shrug of her shoulders. She should be making adult choices here, arguing with logic and reason that it * really * wasn't his decision, but under his gaze she feels a bit like a kid getting told they're not getting the shiny new toy for Christmas. Fussing and crying about it won't change it. "You can't really stop me" She knows it's the childish thing to do.

Most of the people had gone back to their previous tasks, but turn their heads back onto the conversation in various degrees of interest. Even they can see that this is gearing up into a full blown fight. The ones that don't know her are more open in their observing, crossing the room to get a better angle, whispering about them. The ones that know the both of them, know the both of them * together * are more wary. They might not have been witness to all that much fights; mostly they had just been bickering and flirting, but the few they'd seen hadn't been pretty.

"I know" He snaps at her, raking his hands through his hair. She takes the opportunity to fold her arms across her chest to look more intimidating. She forgets that this hasn't worked on him; ever. "Alice..." It's almost a plea, but then he realizes they are fighting and he'll be damned if he's the one giving in first , so he stops, squares his jaw and locks eyes with her for a moment. He's angry, she can see that. "I know that" He says again, not bothering to keep his emotions out off his voice. He'd hoped they could at least talk about it, before she told him to not meddle in her life.

"But you don't want me here" She sounds more hurt than angry, tries to ignore the fact and works herself up into mad again, because * she's * not going to give in first either.

"That's not true, and you know it" It isn't. He loves to have her around, he wants her to be with him, and he of course wants her to be able to come with him to the Whyte Wyrm. But she's here * now * without the leather jacket and all the dangerous territory it brings, so why can't this be enough for her? He wants to keep her safe, and donning that jacket doesn't necessarily equal that. "I run this show now, so if you want to be here or be kept in the loop about what's going on, then you will. You don't have to join a biker gang you don't want to be part of just to keep an eye on me. We're not sixteen anymore" And by the way her eyes darken even further, if that's at all possible, he knows it has been exactly the wrong thing to say. He'd been holding on to the hope that this just hasn't occurred to her yet, and that he could make her see reason now. Apparently he'd been wrong.

"You think this is the only reason I became a Serpent?" Her voice is getting louder, but she doesn't care. Let them hear what she has to say. "I wan incredibly in love with you and incredibly afraid for you and I would have done everything for you. That's true." She stops for a moment, has to remind herself that she's till angry, that they are still fighting. It's easy forgetting that when she's looking at him. "But me joining the Serpents had essentially nothing to do with you. I * wanted * to be part of this" It's true, too. She would have done it even if they hadn't been together or if he hadn't been a snake already.

His anger lessens marginally when he looks at her and sees her eyes water just slightly. She wouldn't let the tears fall he knows, but maybe she's not * just * angry anymore either. "You always talked about getting out of here" He doesn't believe she put on the jacket because she wanted to, and if she weren't be so pissed, she wouldn't even blame him for that.

"I never thought I'd get out!" They should have had this conversation days ago, but between her family and them not being able to keep their hands off each other, there just simply hadn't been time for an honest talk. The few moments in between where they could have talked, neither of them had been brave enough to start. She knows now, that she would never have regretted staying with him. This is not what she's trying to say here. All she wants is to make him see, that she'd pretty much given up on leaving and so she'd made the best out of what she still had. And, even with her sixteen years, she had known that staying in the South Side comes with the Serpents and him. And she'd wanted both of those things like she's never wanted anything before. Not even leaving she realizes today.

"So I was just the back up plan" They are shouting loud enough for people to even poke their heads in through the front door from the parking lot to see what all this commotion is about. Neither of them notices they have an audience anymore.

"I lived the back up plan for the last twenty years, because you pushed me into it" It's not really fair, just because he'd broken it off with her and told her to go out with Hal didn't mean she actually had to do it. They both look at each other for a long moment, not saying anything, still angry enough to bite their lips from saying something they'd regret.

Finally, he takes a deep breath, debates for a minute on how to approach what he is about to say, and then settles on matter of fact and still enraged. If he goes back to pleading and reasoning now, he could just as well have said nothing at all from the beginning. "I still don't want you to pledge the rest of your life to a gang you were sure for twenty years you didn't belong in. What if you find that hasn't changed!" It's not a question, and he never intended for it to be one. He knows she belongs here, even with the Serpents, but he still doesn't want her in harms way.

"So what, you're going to tell me you don't love me again, just to keep me safe?" It's a low blow, but she's not finished yet. She's worked herself up into this from the very beginning and he knows not to make her mad because he knows how she is when she snaps. "At least now there's no child you can claim you don't want"

He turns around and leaves then. She doesn't follow.

Instead she heads over to the bar, ignoring the looks on her back. She knows she's gone too far, generally does as soon as the words have left her mouth. Maybe it had been time to say all this out loud, but there is no excuse for doing this in front of dozens of people, especially ones that look up to him and respect him like they do.

She'd been spending the last twenty years hating him as much as she was in love with him, just because he'd thought he'd done the right thing by pushing her away. Her and their son. She had realized what he'd done even back then, had known he didn't really * not * love her or didn't really * not * want their child, but it had hurt more than she can express in words even now and so she went on hating him just so she wouldn't constantly think about him. And the fact alone, that they had finally admitted that they were still in love with each other doesn't change the way it had ended twenty years ago – or that they need to confront it in order to really move forward. Otherwise * this * will just happen again and again, and no matter how much they love each other, it's going to put an irreversible strain on their relationship.

Alice slumps into one of the bar stools, orders a single shot of Tequila from the teenager behind the bar and drains it without thinking. She doesn't drink this time of the day, and she shakes her head no when the girl offers another one, but she decides she needs it to calm down. She's sorry for what she said, should never have gotten so worked up that it had the chance to slip out, but going after him now wouldn't do either of them any good. She's, however, not sorry for wanting to be a Serpent again. For twenty years she hadn't known that she wanted it, that that's what's missing, but being here again, she just feels it's right. And yes, even if she would have found herself permanently on this Side without being with FP, she'd still have wanted to put her leather jacket back on.

"Should have kept to the good side of town" The girl behind the bar tells her with a shrug. It's in no way meant to be hostile or any suggestion that Alice is not welcome here, but a simple reminder that she wouldn't have to think about joining any gang just to be near her boyfriend on the * good side *.

She has no idea who the girl is, though she looks maybe just that bit familiar. Maybe she knows only one side of her parents. She's still not surprised, that the girl seems to know who she is. She's walked in here with his hand in her's and they'd had * that * fight, of course the girl would know she's FP's girlfriend. That she used to live the * respectable * life seems to have made the rounds already, too with the people that didn't know her before. What she doesn't know is, if they know she used to be one of them way back when.

"I used to live here, you know." She lifts her shoulder in a non-commital shrug and accepts the glass of water the girl sets down before her. "I was one of you when I was your age" She takes a sip, sees the girl do a double take. So all they know is she's a straight laced, buttoned up house wife that happened to fall for the bad boy. She has every intention of remedying that as soon as possible.

"No way" The girl twists her long dark hair behind one of her shoulders and leans on her elbow against the bar. "I'm Toni, by the way" The dark eyes linger on her's just that little too long, and Alive can't shake the feeling that she * does * know the girl's parents. But there's time to figure all that out later.

"Alice" She offers with a smile and Toni's eyes widen for a moment. It happens so fast she's not even really sure it happened, but it seems like someone must have said * something * about her already. "Yea" She goes on, answering the not-quite question from before. "FP and I were together back then." As if the girl hasn't gathered that from their earlier shouting. "People would say we're going to rule this place together someday" She takes another sip of her water, wishes it was something stronger but resists the urge to ask. But she finds she's not mad anymore.

"What happened?" Toni is actually curious. She hasn't heard any of that yet, though it's pretty obvious the older members must sill know Alice. She's also a sucker for a good story.

"I believe this is something I should be telling my daughter first" She tries to make light of it, but Toni can see the topic of her daughter is getting to her. Maybe one day Toni'll actually get to meet the girl.

Alice startles and Toni seeks refugee on the other end of the bar, when something is placed lightly on her shoulders. When she turns her head, FP is standing behind her, hands lingering on her shoulders, just over the leather of the jacket. It's her's she notices when she glances down at herself. She reaches up to tangle her fingers with his.

"If you really want to do this, then I will support you. But" He emphasized when she wants to interrupt him. "I am the leader here, so there'll be no re-initiation. As far as I'm concerned you never left and if anyone has a problem with that, they'll have to answer to me"

She gets up from her chair and claims his lips in a long, lingering kiss that's saying thank you and I'm sorry and so many other things at the same time. When she pulls back, however, she says, "You know I have never been a big fan of the female initiation process, but you can't just skip the rules for your girlfriend" He's about to protest, when she kisses him again. "You prepared to bring the wrath of all your followers on you just because you got rid of their fun? Because I promise you, all the girls will have something to say if you let me skip it and not them."

He knows she's right, and just because he's the man now doesn't mean it's up to him to abandon a decades old initiation process just so his girlfriend won't have to do it. With a heavy sigh, he nods his head once and slides his hands between the jacket and her shoulders. "You want to do it now?", he asks, while sliding the garment off of her. Technically she's nit allowed to wear it til after.

She takes a deep breath, looks him in the eye. "The sooner the better" It's true, she doesn't like it, but she won't back out either and the sooner she's done with it, the less chance he has to try to stop her. "It's not like you had a problem letting your sixteen year old girlfriend pole dance in front of a few dozen people" It's meant to be a joke, trying to lighten the mood, but he tightens his hold around her waist and kisses her just to stake his claim. She doesn't feel the need to complain.

"For the record, I didn't like it back then either" He tells her before she turns and heads over to the stage.

He watches her every move while she talks to the guy manning the music, to the breath she takes before walking up on stage. He doesn't plan to leave her out of his sight either, wrapping her in her serpent jacket as soon as the music's over, to shield her from lingering looks. When the first tones of the music start to drift through the room, he leans back against the bar, arms crossed in front of him.

"Wow" He hears next to his ear suddenly and turning slightly he sees Toni leaning over the bar top. He didn't even notice her coming back over. "She's hot. When she's done with you, could you point her in my direction please?"

"Sure" he answers absently. "You should be old enough for her not to end up in jail by then"

He hears Toni let out a laugh behind him, and then the music stops and he grabs the jacket from beside him on the bar and has her down from the stage and wrapped in his arms on the way to his office in a matter of seconds.


	4. Chapter 4

"You * do * know that I didn't mean what I said, don't you?" She asks, cuddled into his side in bed. His arm is draped around her shoulder, pulling her closer to him when he feels her tense up.

"Of course I do" He assures, pressing a kiss into her hairline and smiles when she relaxes against him again.

They had had this exact conversation at least ten times since yesterday afternoon. After pulling her off the stage, he had led her to his office, pushed her gently inside and closed the door behind him when he'd turned to leave. He'd made his way back into the main room to retrieve her clothes and watched her silently as she got dressed again. She'd slid into the leather jacket without hesitation. He had pulled her next to him onto the small couch. And then they had talked. Talked for over an hour, said everything they should have said days, if not years, ago, explained and apologized, and somehow she'd ended up losing her clothes again halfway through him expressing how pushing them away had been the biggest mistake of his life. After, they had talked and apologized some more, neither really sure when they had said everything they needed to but still afraid of saying too much too soon and disrupting what they just repaired. She had asked if he believed her a number of times then and he had always answered in the same fashion. But somehow she still seemed to be uneasy about it.

Another half an hour later she'd been about to kill him once again, when they'd been interrupted by Toni and he'd casually stricken up a conversation with the girl behind the door, while watching her fall apart under his talented fingers. When she'd bitten the hand he'd put over her mouth to keep her from screaming, hard, she'd instantly forgotten what she'd been mad about. The look on his face had, however, earned him a slap when he'd leaned over to kiss her briefly before leaving her to get redressed again.

He had left to attend whatever business he'd come to do in the first place, and she had relocated back into the main room, claiming her seat at the bar again. FP had found her there an hour later, deep in conversation with Toni, looking for all in the world like she'd never been anywhere else. It had been the moment when he'd realized that he should never have tried to talk her out off it.

She shifts against him now, lacing her fingers with his around her shoulder and pressing a quick kiss to his lips. She's smiling when she pulls back and he thinks that he'd finally made her believe he doesn't hold what she'd said yesterday against her. He knows her for long enough to know, that if the moment would come where she's enraged enough to reach that point, rational thought is mostly gone from her mind. Her thoughts get all tangled up inside the other and she's saying the very most thing that comes to mind, often without even realizing she'd said it at all. He won't pretend it hadn't stung, hearing her accusing him of abandoning their child back then, when that's technically not exactly what happened. But he's learned a long time ago to put his own hurt feelings aside to find the reason * she's * so pissed and trying to fix it. With sixteen, he hadn't been sure why that seemed so much more important, but with time he'd come to find, that that's simply what you do for the people you love.

He leans down to kiss her again, longer and more passionate this time, while his hand wanders down her side to trace the faded ink on her hip bone. Her parents would have killed her for that tattoo with sixteen and so it's a little smaller than his and located where she's able to hide it under her clothes perfectly. The position had helped quite a lot in the last twenty years, too, since she's never walked around her own house inappropriately dressed, hence her children had not seen it, either. He squeezes her flesh slightly, making her squirm under his touch, showing her again, how extremely okay he is with how yesterday had turned out in the end. And she finds she does believe him. Still, there is one thing she has to tell him again; to ask him again. She wants to believe he knows it, after all he would never have taken a second chance at her again if he didn't but she's still afraid she might not have made it clear enough yesterday.

"I did not for one minute believe you when you said you didn't love me or our son" It's almost a whisper, because as much as she needs to get this off her chest, she's not sure if she should do this now. They had talked this all over yesterday and had come out stronger and better for it. What if she's opening up that wound again now with her confession? What if today they will fight it over once more but this time they won't make it past the pain and hurt? "I didn't like it and I tried to hate you for it for a long time, but I knew what you did and why you did it. You know that, too, don't you?!"

His hand on her hip stills, and her lets out an almost inaudible sigh. They'd gone over this already and it's not that he doesn't want to clear up their past so they can move on to their future and happier times, but he doesn't know what else to do to make her see that. He doesn't answer right away though, instead he kisses her again; pours all the love he feels for her into that action and she reciprocates in kind, only letting go of him, when she needs to breath. He keeps quiet after pulling back just long enough to take a few deep breaths, then he looks her directly in the eyes and speaks. "Yes, I know" Another quick kiss to erase any still lingering doubts. "I hated myself for saying those things and I wouldn't blame you if you did, too. But at the time I was sure you deserved something better than me, and if that meant giving you and my child to someone that could actually provide for you, I don't regret that."

Her eyes cloud over at the mention of their son, and she opens her mouth to say something, but he interrupts her, anticipating where her thoughts had been. They might have discussed their break-up and the shitty way they had dealt with all of this, but for some reason or another they had more or less avoided the child they share. It hadn't even been a conscious decision made by either of them, but after she'd apologized for throwing their son into a room full of people who don't even know he exists, they had just mutually moved on to cover the more important topics for that moment. "No, I don't hate you for giving him away" Hell, he just told her he'd have let Hal Cooper raise his son if that meant he'd have a better life than a shabby trailer park and parents leading a biker gang. How could she think he'll resent her for giving the boy exactly that? "Neither of us three had been ready for a kid in this moment and we should definitively not have raised him here"

He's wiping a lonely tear from her cheek. "You did Jughead and Jellybean though" She had never thought about it like that, but he just said this was no place for their son, so she thinks she's a right to ask what changed when Jughead was born.

"And believe me, I did everything I could to keep them both from the Serpents and all the shit we've been up to when we were teenagers." It had worked, too, at least until now. His daughter is safely out of town with her mother and though he would like nothing more than to see her, he's glad she's far away from this life. His son hadn't want anything to do with him for a good while and though this had changed, he's glad the boy still doesn't want any part in the Serpent's business. He hoped to god that won't change.

"So, if I had stayed...?" She's not sure how to end the question, but he somehow knows exactly what she's asking.

"I'm not gonna lie, we would probably have three teenagers in leather jackets running around" It's so casual that for a moment she's not even sure they're actually having this conversation. They had never dared to voice the word children when they had made plans for their future, until she'd become pregnant. Are they really talking about hypothetical children they could have now? But then, she finds she doesn't mind. It's nothing she hadn't pictured before after all.

"Three, you say?" The smile on her lips makes him relax.

"Yea"

"I hope there's at least one daughter to even out the score a bit" Her smile's contagious and it doesn't take long for his own to show up on his face. He doesn't think he even had a conversation like this with his wife.

"Are you kidding? I have my hands full teaching one son how to be a proper man and to find a girl a beautiful as his mother and sisters." He laughs when she blushes. It's a faint color and almost not noticeable, but he knows her too well.

"And all of them Serpents?" She doesn't really sound displeased with the thought. He still doesn't think she would be * too * thrilled either.

"Of course" She just raises an eyebrow at him. Obviously she's of the opinion that at least one of their hypothetical children would have shown some better judgment. He gives her one of his heart-stopping grins before he makes her see reason. "Baby, what do you think the people would say when the King and Queen don't encourage their children to follow in their footsteps?" That gets exactly the intended result, when she laughs out loud with him.

"I love you" She gets out in between deep breaths to calm herself down. Then she pushes herself up on her elbows and leans over to him, but before she can connect their lips in a slow kiss, his phone rings from the nightstand behind him. He ignores it in favor of her lips and when he turns around to get it, he sees it's his alarm. With a sigh he switches it off.

"I love you, too, but I have to go to work"

"That's okay, I need to head to work, too"

He's finished gathering his clothes and halfway out the door on his way to the bathroom when he registers she's said anything at all. Then he stops, scrunches up his face in confusion for a moment, decides there's nothing he's missed since yesterday and turns back to face the bed. "I hate to tell you this, but I'm pretty sure you don't work anymore"

Her husband had been trying to be the better man and told her there's no reason for her to leave the paper; it's theirs after all. They had both known this was a stupid idea, that the thing they * really * needed right now was space to get their own affairs in order and so she had thanked him for even considering making the offer given what she'd done to him, but refused. It's not just that she thinks working with her soon-to-be ex-husband in the place that used to belong to the both of them is wrong, she really doesn't want it anymore either. She loves writing and she will never completely give it up, but the Register is part of her old life, the one she had left behind so readily to go back where she came from. So that's exactly what she's going to do – going back to where she came from.

"Ah, not yet" It's all she says before squeezing between him and the doorway and making her way into the bathroom. She blows a playful kiss over her shoulder when he calls her out for stealing his time in the shower. He has plenty of time to get to work and he knows, that she knows that, too.

After her shower she gets dressed quickly, the leather jacket being lifted from where she'd put it last night without thought. Then she walks into the kitchen to put on some coffee and prepare a quick breakfast. It's the least she can do, since right now, he's the only one bringing money for said breakfast home. She passes him a cup of steaming coffee, already prepared just how he likes it, when he joins her in the kitchen. The look he gives her has her promise herself to do this as often as possible.

"I'm guessing there's no point in me asking what you're up to?" She's dressed casually enough so he's sure she doesn't actually have a serious job interview he'd forgotten about. Her Serpent Jacket hanging over the back of her chair is another sign for that; she wouldn't wear that. But that means she has something up her sleeve and he doesn't know what it is. And he hates that.

"Of course you can" She quips nonchalantly. "I won't be telling you yet, though" She takes a sip of her coffee, ignoring his questioning gaze. She's aware he hates not knowing something – and that's partly why she's doing it.

"Allie..." If it weren't him, it would sound pretty much like begging.

"Forsythe..." And she's back to eating her breakfast. She can't help the small smirk when she hears him groan.

"Don't call me that" He's not sure she's * ever * called him that. One perfectly raised eyebrow is all the answer he receives. Point taken. But just because he can't call her Allie, doesn't mean he doesn't want to have an answer to his as of yet unspoken question. "Seriously Alice, don't do this"

She turns to look at him then, biting her lip to stifle her laugh. He'd tried to sound pissed or even angered, hoping to get something out of her, but all he managed to do was sound distinctly pathetic. She takes pity on him then. "Let me get this job, and I'll tell you everything tonight"

"You sound awfully confident" He teases. He has no idea where she intents to look for work, but he doesn't doubt her ability to land it in the slightest.

"Believe me, they'll take me back in a heartbeat" She's joking, but he actually thinks she could be right. There's only one place he can think of that would fit her description and though she'd never considered it her dream job, he can't deny that she kind of fit.


	5. Chapter 5

Alice enters Pop's just under half and hour later with her head held high. She doesn't mind the looks and the whispers, she really doesn't, and she's proudly showing that. It's the first time in twenty years that she wears her leather jacket in public and she'll be damned if she'll let anyone ruin her good mood because of that. Not even running into Hal right now would keep her from smiling or would disrupt the confident way she walks over to the counter.

It's so different coming here as a Serpent. She can't really describe it, but the whole place feels changed and definitively not like she's just been here with her family. She used to believe that the tailored skirts and heels gave her power in specific situations; the money she used to have being of help, too. But the mere sight of the big snake on the back of her jacket has people respect her immediately. At least those who are not looking down at her with for being in a biker gang anyway. And, seeing as it comes with the gang anyway, she intents to take full advantage of it, too.

She leans against the counter, taking in her surroundings. A lone waitress is way too busy in a corner, looking like she's no actual idea what she's supposed to do. Not older than herself the first time Alice started working here, but she's confident she at least never looked so out off her element. This is going to be the smoothest job interview she ever had and probably ever will have. The first time around, she hadn't been a Serpent yet and Pop had not exactly been thrilled when she'd walked into work in her very own leather jacket a few months after hiring her. There'd been a strict no-Serpent policy as far as the waitresses were concerned, simply because where there's one others would soon join and a bunch of them had been just about as easy to e controlled than a pack of hungry wolves. She'd been the only high school part time worker who had actually been able to do the job properly and without complaining however, which left her employed but she had to promise to keep her trouble away from the diner.

She'd succeeded for the most part. At least during her working hours. What her boyfriend decided to do about the guy hitting on her from two booths over, hours after her shift ended, was nothing she had any say in. Not in public anyway. She might have been bad ass and downright bitchy on occasion, but she'd secretly loved his jealous and protective streak and had never done anything to stop him from intimidating others. She'd tell him she's capable of looking after herself behind closed doors, but they'd both known she didn't mind.

As far as she knows, there are still no Serpents to be hired, but she used to be a good employee and she's not sixteen anymore, she knows how to keep her professional and personal life separate; for lack of better words. Besides, there's no denying that help is very much needed and appreciated, so she thinks it really doesn't matter where it comes from. It's not her dream job anyway, she'll probably try to find something more permanent and suitable, so what would it hurt to employ her for a few months while she gets her new life in order and deals with the repercussions of her old life.

She knows FP used to love seeing her in her waitress uniform and had said more than once that he thought the job was made for her. He probably still would today. But twenty years ago it had been an after school job to make some money of her own, only to be lasting until graduation when she would get on to have a * real * job. This time, this right here * is * her real job, given she even gets it and she's not sure she wants to spend the rest of her life waiting tables in a small town diner.

Alice averts her gaze from the awkward scene before her and scans the rest of the diner. As long as she's not working here yet, she's in no way going to take pity on the teenager and help her out in some way. Trying to make believe she hasn't noticed anything seems like the best way to get out off it. The place is empty enough, since it's the middle of the week. A few people are taking their breakfast before heading off to their own work, there's a mother with a little boy not old enough for school yet and a newborn who seems to be in over her head and, there are a few teenagers definitively skipping school. She shrugs her shoulders. As long as they're not hers. This would have bothered her not a few weeks ago, but then she can't help but ask herself if it really * had * bothered her or if it had just been what was expected of her.

A crash somewhere behind her pulls her out off her thoughts and with a heavy sigh, she turns around and heads over to the table she'd been eyeing before. She kneels down beside the girl that's almost in tears and helps her clean up the mess she's just made, spilling four cups of left-over coffee onto the floor. The occupants of the booth are already gone, thank god, but they are getting a lot of attention from the few full booths. Alice makes light conversation, trying to distract the girl from their current task, learns the girl just started Monday and is supposed to work two hours before school Wednesday's if she doesn't get herself fired before the next one.

"You need to place the middle of the tray just over the middle of your palm and then bend your fingers just that tiny little bit upwards. See" She takes the tray from the nearby table and demonstrates to a teenager looking eager to learn. "But as long as it's just one tray you're carrying, I'd recommend both hands" That gets her a small smile, before the girl bends back down to finish cleaning up.

"So it's actually true" Their quiet working is interrupted by none other than Pop's himself, eyeing Alice speculatively. He'd heard the rumors, too, but he's not one to meddle in other people's lives, so he doesn't give much thought to those rumors until he sees it with his own eyes.

"I'm afraid it is" Alice replies with a little smile. The teenager has finished moping up the stale liquid and tracks the conversation with obvious interest for a moment. Then she picks up her tray, with both hands, and makes for the kitchen, leaving the two adults alone.

"Don't apologize" A laugh accompanies that statement. "You were always one of my favorite Serpent" She knows it's true, but she hasn't expected him to say that so openly. The way he's looking at her has her thinking that maybe she had been the only one that had not seen that she'd grown up exactly where she belonged. Pop had obviously been sure she won't stay away forever. "Can't say the same thing for that boyfriend of yours" Alice averts her gaze from his eyes, looking almost sheepish, if that's something she'd do.

"He doesn't beat up random kids in here anymore" Why is she defending FP in a rather unnecessary discussion when she'd actually come here to ask for a job?

"He hasn't had a reason to for the last twenty years" Another short laugh, but Alice hears the truth in it. The only kids he'd beaten up or intimidated had been the ones making eyes at her. Somehow she doesn't think he'd ever done that for his children's mother.

"I know, that you don't hire Serpents" She starts, getting back on track. She doesn't get further though.

"Just promise me you'll leave your troubles out off my diner" Pop pauses for a moment, takes in how her expression changes from surprised to appreciative in a manner of seconds. Then he turns around towards the kitchen, catches a glimpse of his latest employee, turns back around and lets out a sigh. "And please tell me you can stay an hour until her shift's finished and show her how to really wait tables"

She actually laughs at him then. "Yes, thank you"

They part at the counter, Pop going back to his work after telling her she'll start tomorrow, Alice to the other end of the diner, helping her colleague out. Since she's not officially working here yet, she doesn't shed her jacket, which leads to more than a few curious glances. She ignores them.

Until Hermione Lodge enters the place to pick up her order. She can feel the other woman's eyes burning a whole in her back and when Hermione doesn't leave after having received her meal and having paid, Alice lets the teenager manage the next table alone and walks over to the counter. She has the same look in her eyes she used to have when being in Hermione's company, but it doesn't seem to faze the other woman anymore.

"Alice Cooper" Alice cringes, that * so * should have been her opening. "Going back to your roots I see – however dirty they are" The long dark hair is moved from off her shoulder with a perfectly manicured hand and Alice can't understand how she used to be sure she can't live without this.

"Don't be so high and mighty. That criminal of a husband of yours had you wearing that waitress uniform not so long ago, too"

"At least I was able to trade the uniform back for the right side of the track" Does the leather jacket she's wearing justify hitting someone, she wonders?

"At least I had the courage to get out off the life I wasn't happy in" And just like that Alice is satisfied with not inflicting bodily harm on the other woman. The arrogant smirk had disappeared as fast as she had been slapped. Just as quickly Hermione Lodge turns on her heels and leaves without another word. Yes, Alice congratulates herself, she's still got it.

Half and hours later she's just about to leave, picking up her purse from behind the counter, when Veronica walks in, making a beeline towards her. She groans inwardly, but puts on a friendly enough face. She'd never hidden the fact that she didn't like the girl or her daughter being friends with her.

"Mrs. Cooper? I didn't know you worked here" Surprisingly enough it sounds just like that. Seems like Hermione had not texted her daughter the 'embarrassing' scene she'd witnessed.

"Actually, I'm only starting tomorrow" Why is she having a somewhat civil conversation with Veronica Lodge without her own daughter even being around? "You waiting for Archie or my daughter?" And then she takes a look at her watch and raises an eyebrow. No matter who Veronica is meeting, all of them should pretty much be in school right now.

"Both, actually" At the ever raising brow, the girl continues. "This is a hangout during our free periods. Jug, Betty and Archie should be here soon. I volunteered to go ahead and place the orders."

"You mean this is a double date you don't want to call that" She gives the girl an actual smile this time and reaches for a pad and pen. "Hungry?"

"Yes, please. Four burgers with fries" Veronica watches as her food order is scribbled below four milkshakes. "You are * not * as bad as mother makes you out to be"

"Uh, thank you, I guess?" This is turning into an extremely strange conversation. She's not sure she would have dared to say something like that to any adult back then, and she'd done an awful lot of things you should not do.

"Oh my god" Veronica hides her face behind her hands, the blush creeping onto her cheeks. "I did not mean to say that out loud. I'm so sorry"

"It's okay" She outright laughs at the girl when the blush deepens. "You are not as bad as I thought you were either" It's meant to be in good fun, but both of them realize the hidden truce they'd just reached.

With another few words exchanged Alice finally leaves, Veronica making her way to a booth to wait for her friends. They don't take long to arrive, Archie leaning down to greet her with a kiss, Betty and Jughead slipping onto the bench opposite her. The four teenagers talk about trivial things, school and the latest High School Drama until their orders arrive.

"I just saw your mother when I came in" Veronica throws into a lull in conversation. "I didn't know she's working here now" The girl has enough of her friend's vague telling about her family situation; she wants some real answers.

"I didn't know that either" Betty says accusingly around a bite of her fry. "When did that happen?" She'd really hoped her mother wouldn't have any more secrets from her form now on.

"This morning I guess." With a shrug Veronica takes a sip of her milkshake. "Says she's starting tomorrow" Betty visibly relaxes at that. Her mother's not keeping things from her, she just hadn't had the time to tell her yet. "You * do * know she's joined the Serpents though, right?"

"Re-joined. Yea, I know that" Betty almost laughs at the twin expressions of what-the-hell staring back at her. "Long story." A sip of her milkshake and another one of her fries and the expecting looks haven't vanished yet. "One I'm not ready to get into yet" Does the blonde sound pissed all of a sudden? Her mother seems to still be a sore subject, even after everything they already did to repair their relationship.

"I know, I don't know everything that went on, but I really think you should at least hear your mother out properly. Give her a reason to explain, to tell her side of the story" She doesn't know why she's pushing this, but the short conversation she'd had with her best friend's mother earlier had changed Veronica's opinion of the woman. And despite her complaining about her strictness, Veronica knows Betty always loved her mother.

They can all see Betty is about to protest, but Archie cuts her off before she can even get a word out. "I think Ronnie's right." He holds his hands up in defense when Betty sends him a glare. But he's not just agreeing with his girlfriend, he actually means it. "Let her say what she has to say with an open mind, because I can see how this is hurting you. And if you still don't want to have anything to do with your mother after that, then you at least know you tried"

Betty shares a look with Jughead, he's the only one who knows the real and complete story as of now. If he shares Archie and Veronica's opinion, then * maybe * she would talk to her mother, clear the air once and for all. "Alright, fine, I'll think about it" It's more than the others had expected, so they mutually agree to leave it at that.


	6. Chapter 6

It's just past two o'clock, when he walks into Pop's on his day off, making a beeline straight to the counter instead of settling into a booth to wait. It's her third day and her first morning shift that was supposed to end ten minutes ago. Saturday mornings are the hardest, but it's not like she's really new to all this, so Pop had not hesitated to schedule her in for it. And she looks so comfortable and thoroughly in her element, that FP can't deny that it has definitively been the right choice.

He used to only have his motorcycle, that being enough for him alone or on occasion his son, too, but she'd kept her car, because it is * her's * and Hal has nothing to do with that, so he'd dropped her off this morning an hour before her shift started. They'd walked in with his arm around her, hands entwined on her shoulder, both clad in their Serpent Jackets and, for the first time in twenty years, the shirt she's wearing is showing beautiful snake eyes inked onto her skin. He'd kissed her briefly before she slid into a booth and he followed right behind and the looks alone would have been worth it.

It's not really a secret anymore, that she's divorcing her husband, even though they did not make it a habit of going around and telling people. But she and Hal don't live together anymore, they don't work together anymore and they don't show up in town together anymore – people are bound to notice things like that. There had of course also been rumors circulating about just * where * she's living now, and a good amount of people just * know * she's moved back to the Southside, back to FP but neither of the three had as of yet actually confirmed any of that.

Hal had surely not been telling he'd lost his wife to her High School boyfriend and Alice and FP simply wanted a moment for themselves, where there's just them and no judging looks they were ignoring anyway. Then there's the business with the divorce itself and, while there's no question that it will happen, they'd thought as long as she's still married they maybe should take this a bit slower – at least in public that's not the Whyte Wyrm. Then came the day when they realized that this was stupid, because there * is * already talk and she's also proudly wearing her Jacket. That's when they acknowledged that they * really * do not care what people say or think or that she's technically only separated from her husband for just under two weeks.

She had, however, be kind enough to let her soon-to-be ex-husband know about this beforehand. She'd went to see him Wednesday just after she left the diner, to talk a few things over and though Hal had not been happy with this development, he'd been surprised it took them so long. They had parted, with things pretty much settled for the moment, fighting when she admitted they'd kept low for his sake and he'd told her that she should have thought about that before sleeping with FP in the first place. She'd gone on ignoring him for the last three days completely.

Alice and FP had breakfast that consisted more of flirting, teasing, laughing and kissing than actual eating and then he'd left her to work with the promise to pick her up when her shift's over. True to her word to keep her troubles out off the diner, she stashed her leather jacket under the counter, where the few people that don't already know won't see it and maybe start something and met any scowl or snide remark with a smile and a polite greeting. She used to do that when she was younger and she's just as proud of who she is now, than she has been back then.

She's been dreaming of leaving the Southside behind ever since she was thirteen but, thinking back on it now, she can't seem to understand why. Because she * had * been proud of herself and of being a Serpent and of being the girl FP Jones fell in love with and growing up in a beat up house with parents that were mostly only interested in her when they needed something or when she'd been in trouble did nothing to change that. Who's to say she and FP wouldn't have been able to make it work better for themselves and their son than either of them had growing up?.

FP leans against the counter top, studying the woman busy relaying her last orders to the kitchen. He doesn't mind waiting, doesn't at all mind seeing her working, so he settles more comfortably against the stool behind him and doesn't rush her. He watches her silently, a smirk appearing on his face when he realizes she's aware of his presence, ignoring him on purpose now. It's visible in the way her shoulders lower and she seems so much more relaxed when he's around. When she rises up on her tiptoes and her skirt moves with her, he can't help commenting though.

"If I had known the waitresses were so hot here, I would've come more often" He can see her trying to stifle a laugh, even though she looks less than impressed when she turns around to retrieve her jacket and finally leave.

"Wouldn't your girlfriend get mad hearing you talk like that to other women?" She's still not letting on that she's not the least bit offended by his remark but he knows. He can read her too well after all.

"Nah, don't worry. My girlfriend's cool with me flirting with you" He winks at her for good measure and she almost lets out the laugh she's suppressing since he started talking. Almost. She has way too much experience masking her emotions and expressions to slip now. Though she has to admit, it's harder to hide with him, even when the only time she's hiding something from him is moments like this. She thinks maybe that's the reason.

"Your girlfriend hopes * she's * the only one you're flirting with like that" The laugh breaks free, when he gently grabs her around the waist when she rounds the counter and pulls her into him. She leans over to kiss him, slipping her tongue past his lips, not caring that they are in the middle of a crowded diner. Kissing him has been one of her most favorite things to do when she'd been a teenager and she's recently found that hasn't really changed.

She leaves him there for a moment, promising to hurry and goes to change. She could go home in her uniform, come in wearing it, too, but she feels just that little bit ridiculous pairing a waitress uniform with her Southside Serpent Jacket. When she comes back out, he's sitting on the bar stool he's formerly been leaning against and she steps into the V of his legs, cuddling up to him again.

"So, what have you been up to all day?"

"This and that, nothing special" He shrugs his shoulders and places another kiss to her temple when she leans against him more comfortably. "Did some thinking" That smirk tells her he's up to something, but of course she has to ask.

"Yea? So tell me, what have you been thinking about?" She regrets it as soon as it leaves her lips, the spark in his eyes making her blush before he even uttered a word.

"Let me get you home and out of those clothes and I'll show you"

She snaps her head around to look at him, the blush rising on her cheeks with every passing second and she clamps a hand over his mouth to keep him from speaking when it seems like he has more to say. "I love you and all that, but if you ever say something like that in public again, I might have to kill you" And strangely enough, * public * doesn't include the Wyrm or other Serpents. She can't describe it, but she feels so different there, that she doesn't mind him claiming her like that around the gang. Here, she is not ashamed of being with him, wouldn't kiss him like she did if she were, but she doesn't need the others to know what they did in their own home.

"I'm not worried" He tells her without hesitation when she releases his lips. That raised eyebrow is something he would die for. "You'd miss me way too much"

"Sadly, that's probably true, too" She heaves a sigh that was supposed to be annoyed, but it turns into something way more pleased when he captures her lips again.

"I should kind of have expected that" It's not like they are doing something wrong here, but the voice startles them enough that they break the kiss like they were actually not supposed to do that.

"Sorry" He says first, winding his arms around her waist, chin resting on her shoulder. He does look unsure of the girl's reaction however. They have been affectionate in front of their children before, of course, and the teenagers seemed to have come to terms with the fact that this relationship is serious, but they're in public now and he's still kind of the new man.

"Betty..." Alice smiles at her daughter, too, trying to determine if this is going to evolve into a scene or not. She doesn't get to the apology part when Betty shakes her head slightly once and lets a small smile of her own show. She hasn't seen her mother in a few days and though she's still not completely forgiven her, the girl has to admit it's nice to see her mother; and even more so to see her obviously happy.

"No, it's okay... I guess" Maybe this is really the right thing to do, the teen thinks. Wringing her hands together in front of her body she trades a look between the two adults, settles back on her mother and nervously asks what she'd come here to do. "Mom, can I talk to you?"

"Of course" Did this come out as surprised as she thought it did? "Should we..."

"I'll wait for you in the booth over there" Betty indicates vaguely at a spot behind her she'd spotted an empty booth when she came in. "It was nice seeing you Mr. Jones"

"Please, Betty..." He'd told her to call him by his name, and not only because he's dating her mother now, but Betty's not quite * there * yet. With another quick smile she turns and leaves the adults alone.

"Give me a call when you're done and I'll come pick you up" A light kiss is dropped onto her smiling lips and then he detangles himself from her and shoos her in the direction her daughter had taken off in. "And take your time, I know this is important to you"

"I will" She doesn't clarify which statement she's referring to, but he hopes it's both. Then he's out the door and she looks after him for a moment, gathering the nerve to have that talk with her daughter.

Alice slips into the booth opposite Betty with a milkshake and a cup of coffee. The former finds its place in front of Betty who takes a long sip almost immediately. There's an uncomfortable silence spreading neither of them know how to end. They're sipping their respective beverages for a minute that seems to feel like a lifetime, awkwardly trying to find something to say to start the conversation.

"I hear you talked to dad" This is way harder than she had expected when she'd made the decision to finally hear her mother out. Polly had made it sound so easy.

It had actually been Polly who had finally convinced her she needs to make amends with their mother. They had had a lengthy conversation yesterday in which Betty had admitted, that she's not as troubled that FP is Jughead's father than she thought she should be. In fact, that does not bother her at all; it won't change anything between her and Jug. She's pissed about the lying and, of course, the cheating. Her mother had tried to explain things, all of them – FP, their High School romance and her Serpent past – and all Betty had done was shut her out. She would not forgive the betrayal to their father so easily but Polly had made her realize that their mother had actually never lied about her past. Alice had never told them she grew up a southsider or that their father had not been her first boyfriend, but then again, she had never actually told them differently. She'd spoken a lot about her past when the kids had asked, but thinking back on it, Betty sees, that she's never specifically said she'd lived on the Northside. And not telling something is not the same as outright lying about it.

Betty had come to the realization, that maybe she had behaved wrong, too. As a matter of fact, she needs to hear what her mother has to say, needs to get her side of the story, without blowing up in her face again. She's not interested in apologies and justifications for cheating on her father, but she needs to know what made FP Jones so special that her mother could not stop loving him all those years. She needs to know that her mother will actually be happier with him, because as much as she's still mad at her mother, she still loves her and the only thing she * really * wants is for her to be happy. And if it's not her father Alice is the happiest with, then she'll have to accept that somehow.

"I did." It's at least something to start a conversation with. "Cleared a few things up, made some arrangements" Again, they mutually sip at their drinks for way too long. "That's not what you're here for though" Here, she said it. Now there's no going back on it.

"No" Betty seems to see that, too. "I want you to tell me why him?" She does a good job of not making it sound like she's something against the man in general, because she doesn't. Still, she's afraid it might come across like that.

"That's a very complicated question" The coffee's all but gone, so Alice occupies her hands with playing with the empty cup. She takes a deep breath when she sees her daughter's face. How does she explain something like that?

"No, it's actually rather simple" She looks her mother directly in the eyes when she speaks on. "You loved him ever since you were sixteen, did you ever * really * love dad? Or us?" She's asked that question before but that had been when she'd been sure every other word out of Alice's mouth was going to be another lie.

"My god Betty, of course I love you and your sister. And yes" She adds after making sure the girl is listening to her. "I did love your father, too. How can you even think otherwise?" It hurts, but she thinks she probably deserves this.

"Then explain it to me" The girl's not giving up. She came here to do this, to get answers, and so she will not take a * no * or * it's complicated *. You can't be in love with two people at the same time...

"Are you over Archie?" It's the most random thing Alice could have asked right this moment, but it had been the first thing that came to mind and the best way to get across what she needs her daughter to see.

"Mom..."

"I know you're with Jughead now and I can see you really love him, but can you sit here and tell me honestly that you are completely over Archie Andrews?" There's a long moment of silence where Alice can almost hear Betty think the question over. She can't even say how much she appreciates her daughter taking that time to come to an honest answer than just blurting something out.

Then, "No, I can't." She sounds guilty admitting it, but it's also the truth. "I don't think about him like that when I'm with Jug, never, because I do love him, but sometimes when I see Archie I still feel..." She breaks off at that. Suddenly, she gets it. "Oh my god, and I've never even * been * with him"

When the girl reaches over the table to take her mother's hand in hers, Alice startles. She'd been thinking up every possible way this conversation could go should they ever actually have it and though she had hoped for it, Betty being so accepting of the simple truth had been rather far back on the list. She grips her daughter's hand a little tighter, making sure she's not imagining things and is rewarded with an actual, genuine smile. "I'm still sorry for hurting you"

"I know" A little nod of her head accompanies the statement and then suddenly she drops her mother's hand and gets up to round the table. She slips onto the bench next to her mother, slinging her arms around the woman who is, for a split second, stunned. Then she returns the embrace eagerly. "I * do * still love you, you know that, right?"

Alice laughs through the few tears leaking out off her eyes. "Of course I do." She drops a kiss on the girl's forehead. "I love you, too." They break from their hug eventually, both wiping a few tears from their cheeks. Betty doesn't change seats again.

"Is that a tattoo on your hip?"

"Yes. Yes it is"

"Will you tell me the whole story?"


	7. Chapter 7

**IMPORTANT: I am actively dealing with Jason's murder and FP's arrest from chapter 7 on, which means I will be following some episode happenings a bit more closely than i have before and I will NOT change the overall involvement FP has in the murder. There will be of course continue to be divergences from canon, but only in what happens around the FP gets arrested story line. So, if for some reason you are reading this without actually having seen any episode from 1x10 on, I am issuing a spoiler warning! I repeat: DO NOT READ ON IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENS AFTER EPISODE 1x10.**

* * *

The pre homecoming dinner had been Betty's idea and everyone involved thinks it's a bad idea. When she had received four less than enthusiastic * I don't know *'s the girl had poured her heart out to Veronica, about just wanting to make all of this a little more normal. The other girl had immediately encourage her to try again, and be more insistent. In her words, it would do any of them some good to get out of the house and in the open and try to be civil with each other. It's a small town, and even with her parents now living on opposite sites of it, they * are * bound to run into each other at some point. Clearing the air now would make this a whole lot less awkward.

Ever since Betty and Alice had talked last week the girl has been looking for a way to reach out to her mother more. She's constantly texting her, they had talked on the phone for a few minutes every day and there had even been a visit at the trailer, but Betty still doesn't think it's enough. She's behaved like a spoiled brat, attacked her mother in public and refused to listen to logic and reason – just like the six year old she hasn't been for the last ten years. She'd even tried to make her come to Jug's birthday party two days ago, but FP had shown up alone, because * this * had been his time to make things right with his son and he has a right to do this alone, just like Alice had with Betty.

Alice had said more than once, that it's okay, she takes what she gets, because she knows she no saint in this either and nothing of this would even have happened if * she * hadn't started all this.

The two of them had spent hours in their booth at Pop's. Alice had done most of the talking, Betty listening intently. Here and there, the girl had thrown in a question but for the most part, she had let her mother tell her the story of how she'd grown up and had fallen in love with FP Jones. It had turned out, that teenage Alice had been involved in enough illegal and reckless activities, not all of them FP had been responsible either, and suddenly Betty understood why her mother had tried to keep her and Polly from doing something stupid. But Betty had also seen her mother's face light up when she'd talked about her younger self, about the times she'd spent with FP and the serpents back then and Betty also understood, that this right here, * this * is her mother. No tailored skirts, manicured fingernails, hair appointments and make-up will ever be able to change that, even though Alice had given it a respectable try. The fact that she'd so easily moved back into her old life once she'd slipped has Betty believe she doesn't really know her mother. And it makes her swear she's doing everything she can to change that.

Betty had also seen her mother's face crumble when she'd talked about the last time she'd been with FP and how they had ended. She'd gripped her mothers' hands tighter, assuring her that it's okay, that there's nothing she needs to hide, not even her tears. But Alice hadn't cried, she doesn't do that in public. That doesn't mean she hadn't been devastated recounting what had happened, and in the end Betty had realized, that all this drama could have been avoided had their teenage selves handled the situation better. Hadn't she been such a bitch and just told him she'll stay with him no matter what instead of accepting Hal's invitation just because she'd been pissed and hadn't he been such a coward and just told her he's terrified of being a father in his situation instead of pushing her away; maybe neither of them had ever married anybody else. Maybe they would have made it work. And maybe Betty wouldn't exist then, but she finds she wouldn't even mind if it meant someone else had been able to see * this * side of Alice for the last twenty years.

There'd been little to no talk at all about her brother, and Betty hadn't dared to ask about him. Betty had learned that her pregnancy had ultimately been what had broken them up in High School and, that her own father had even pressured her into terminating the pregnancy. She'd known, that her parents had given the boy up for adoption, Alice had reluctantly admitted that weeks ago when Betty had asked why exactly Alice had been so infuriated with Hal over Polly. Not that she'd know that her father wasn't * his * father also, the girl had actually been able to picture Hal and the abortion. She'd understood it to some extend, but she would never see her father in the same light anymore. No matter who the father had been, how can you just so easily decide for another person to abort a child? What if it had been her or Polly? For all her brave words said in anger against her father that day, she'd still been to chicken to bring it up with him yet. But she'd calmed down at least, she would not lat any situation evolve into the one she had just started to fix.

A day after her heart to heart with Veronica, who'd seemed incredibly persistent to make this work for Betty, Jughead is the first one she's able to convince. She needs a lot of time and bribing, but she manages to convey all the positive effects that dinner could have – she comes up with exactly two off the top of her head and a lot more negative but she won't be deterred – and misses the moment he agrees through her constant rambling. She stops talking when he laughs at her, thinks back over his last words and throws herself around his neck in a tight hug with a heartfelt thank you. Then she enlists his help in getting the others to agree to that. She tasks him with FP and Alice, because as much as she would like to talk to her mother about this, she doesn't really think her father would appreciate it if she sends the son of the man responsible for his divorce.

It's another day later and Betty had almost given up hope, when Jughead grabs her by the hand in the crowded school hallway and pulls her into an empty class room. So far none of the adults have agreed to be there, but he starts off with 'About that dinner...' and she can't help but be intrigued to what he's up to. And then he tells her, that his father just texted him he and Alice will come and Betty thinks she couldn't be happier until her own cell phone beeps and she finds she has a text from her father confirming he'll show up, too. There had been a time not so long ago, Betty had been sure it had been her mother's influence that got him to change his mind, but in this particular situation, the girl is sure that had Alice tried to even talk to Hal about this, there's no way either of them would come.

Betty and Jughead are the first ones at the restaurant. It's not exactly how she had planned to host a dinner to get her parents into the same room, but even she had realized that doing this at home would be an incredibly stupid idea. So they let themselves be led to their table, Betty clinging to his hand like a lifeline and Jughead tries to reassure her that it won't be too bad. That's what they'd picked the public spot for after all. Nobody would dare to make s scene in front of all these people. At least that had been the idea behind it, now they just hope it would pan out.

Hal arrives first, dressed sharply in a black suit and Betty's almost afraid to hug him because it would wrinkle his jacket. After greetings the three of them make polite conversation while waiting for Alice and FP. It's not long until the girl sees them enter the restaurant and being shown their way. With a smile on her face she watches them walk over, rolling her eyes when she sees them drop their joined hands at sight of Hal. This is ridiculous. They might have agreed not to rub this relationship into her still-husband's face but showing up hand-in-hand at a dinner they didn't even want to attend is totally fine in Betty's book. She makes a mental note to tell all of the adults that respectively, but not right now. Or tonight in general. Tonight is for trying to get along.

Her mother's black dress matches FP's dark jeans and shirt perfectly and though it's just that little bit shorter than Betty is accustomed to with Alice, it's modest and beautiful and fits her greatly. She feels stupid, but even in her blue and incredible homecoming dress, Betty feels like nothing compared to her mothers' looks. She greets the newcomers with a gentle hug, Jughead right behind her, and it's the first time she calls FP by his given name which earns her a very suspicious looks from her father. He'd never offered Jug the same, but then, as strange as that may sound, Betty momentarily has more interaction with her mother's new boyfriend than her own father, and definitively more than Jughead has with Hal. When Jughead tries Alice for the first time, too, after she'd told him to more than once, Betty thinks for a moment her father is about to leave. This was supposed to bring her family back together, and right now it seems like it's heading in the exact wrong direction.

Then Hal seems to come to the same conclusion, sits himself more relaxed into his seat and acknowledges the other two with a short but polite greeting. Maybe one day he'll be able to forgive Alice for what she did, but tonight he's doing this for his daughter; nothing more and nothing less. After they had all retaken their seats and a waiter has taken their drink orders Betty gains control of the conversation and purposely steers it in a safe direction. And it's just as awkward as that first breakfast meeting they'd had, but awkward is so much better than the alternative.

They spend some time making small talk and polite dinner conversation that actually turns out to be just that, and when there's a lull in conversation after their food is served Betty takes the opportunity to discreetly watch the four people around the table. Jughead looks content, probably glad he hasn't had to break up a fight between their respective fathers yet. She can see him also stealing glances around, making sure the peace and quiet is not just an illusion. His shoulder are just tense enough that she knows he's ready to interfere should the need to arise. Hal looks uncomfortable, but does his best to hide it for her sake. He'd never come up with the idea and as much as he is okay with the girl making amends with her mother, he doesn't want to take part in it. Betty can see as much just from his posture, but she admires the man right this moment for being civil and even exchanging words with his soon-to-be ex-wife and her new boyfriend – however short they were. Alice looks happy, and Betty knows it's because she's allowed to even be part of this. After how she behaved herself, the girl isn't surprised her mother sometimes forgets she's forgiven. But right now it seems like not even the simultaneous presence of her husband and boyfriend at the same dinner could spoil her good mood. She can't quite read FP, his mood seemingly changing every so often from uncomfortable to content to happy and Betty has the stark suspicion it has to do with the woman sitting beside him, hands entwined on his thigh.

"Mom, are you still coming to the dance with us?" The question effectively kills the calm that had settled over them. For the last minutes they had tried to pretend they were nothing more than a few people sharing a meal, people without history and lies and problems, because it had been just easier tonight. There will come a time where they would sit together and talk this over like adults and try to get to a point where they can at least be nice to each other in passing, but this night is not for that conversation.

Alice looks torn between saying yes and no and a few other things running through her head and she doesn't know how to formulate any of them into words just yet. "I..." she starts, still no words forthcoming. She shares a helpless look with FP, because how do you tell your highly enthusiastic daughter, that you don't think this is a good idea, but he just nods his head at her once, seemingly saying * he * thinks it's a good idea.

"You should" It's Hal who answers and four stunned faces stare back at him. It's the last thing any of them had expected him to say. But he just shrugs his shoulders. He might not be extremely happy with Alice and he has moments when sticking needles into his eyes sounds better than spending any time with her, he also can't and won't deny her this. She's been looking forward to this for a long while and this is her daughter, too, and nobody said anything about them going there * together * anyway.

"But..." Certain she would not be spending tonight at homecoming with her daughter, Alice had planned for a nice night in with FP, a bed and a lot less clothing. Maybe they'd have thrown in a movie somewhere in there, too. She looks at him now, sees him smile and nod, again. It looks like the decision has been made for her.

"I'll just relax on my own and patiently wait for you to come home. The movie will still be there tomorrow" In the end it's her daughter's hopeful expression that does it for her and she agrees without overthinking it too much.

"You could come with, you know?" It's his son's school dance, too, sure there would be a way to get him inside even without a ticket. She purposely doesn't look in Hal's direction as she says it, she does not need to see his face when she invites her boyfriend to tag along.

"I * could *" FP laughs and she shouldn't have worried about Hal's reaction, because even he has to smile at that suggestion. FP Jones hasn't even been thrilled to go to his own school dances, and as much as he loves his son, he won't set foot into another one of these unless he absolutely has to.

An hour later Alice leaves the restaurant first to say a proper goodbye to FP without Hal having to witness it. He keeps kissing her until he senses the others coming up to the parking lot and then he takes her keys and drives off. Hal had reluctantly offered to drive her home later and as awkward as * this * is going to be, she had been talked into agreeing nonetheless. She'd be arriving with the three of them, too.

The dance is exactly like Alice imagined it would be. Her daughter had done an incredible job of putting it together, and, for the first time, Alice doesn't hold back in telling her exactly how proud she is of her. Alice just wishes FP had agreed to accompany them – her. This is not his scene and it never will be and as much as * she * loves it here despite transforming back into the bad girl, she's still alone there. She's not lonely, no, but during the times Betty and Jughead are off dancing Alice waits for them to split their time between two people standing alone on two opposite sites of the gym.

The next time there is a break in dancing Betty and Jughead walk over to Alice again, having spent the last one making conversation with Hal, but the blonde spots Archie and Veronica just entering the room. Both of them should have been here an hour ago, meeting the two of them outside. But they hadn't shown and there'd been no text and Betty had feared something had happened to them. And now they'd walked in here, looking rather suspicious but alive and Betty can tell they are actively avoiding her. So she grips Jug's hand in hers, pulls him over to their two friends and follows them into the hall when they leave again. In a deserted hallway she finally catches up with them enough for her voice to carry the question through the air without shouting.

"Where have you been?" It's not her place to ask, not her place to know. For all she knows they could have done god knows what and lost track of time, but the twin looks of guilt on her friends' faces give them away. This obviously involves them, too.

"We broke into your dad's trailer" Archie admits readily, looking rather apologetic at Jughead. Veronica sends him a look that would have killed any other person. She would have obviously not told them.

"Why would you do something like that?" Jughead asks, the hurt obvious in his voice. How could they? There are only a few people in this world Jughead Jones trusted with his life, and right up until this moment, both Archie Andrews and Veronica Lodge had belonged to that group.

"And how did you even know they wouldn't be home?" Betty throws in, obviously just as pissed as her boyfriend. The two girls have had this conversation and Veronica had promised she didn't believe FP to be a murderer.

"I needed to know that my father wasn't involved in this" Veronica sees, that in hindsight, it had been the wrong way to go about proving * her * father's innocence. Maybe she'd been better off doing that in her own home, or by questioning her mother. "And we knew they would be at dinner with you guys" At least she has the decency to look ashamed.

"So that's why you pressured me into arranging that dinner?" Betty can' believe it, wiping a few angry tears from her cheek. Jughead's beside her, providing comfort and strength. "So you can snoop around in peace?!" She takes his hand in her's grips hard to keep herself grounded.

"I'm sorry..." Veronica starts, but Betty doesn't let her finish.

"No. You don't get to say that right now" And there's more she wants, needs, to say, but they are interrupted by three sets of parents rounding the corner, lead by Kevin Keller.

The first thing the teenagers notice is Alice Cooper, looking like she might break any second now, flanked by Hermione Lodge and Mary Andrews who seem ready to catch her should they be required to. The woman holds herself incredibly well for someone who must have just gotten some terrible news, but Betty knows her mother. If it's actually that bad, she'd break down later, when she's on her own. Speaking of bad, the children still have no idea what is actually going on, but before either of them can even open their mouths to ask, Kevin beats them to it.

"My dad just told Mayor McCoy about your dad" It's undoubtedly directed at Jughead but that doesn't mean any of them, least of all Jughead himself, know what he means by that.

"What about my dad?" He swear, of somebody isn't going to tell him soon, he'll be forced to hurt someone. Kevin can't just start a conversation like this and the just stop there. People don't * do * that.

"Jughead, your father..." But she can't say it. She thought it best to be the one telling him, after all she's his father's girlfriend, spends the most time with him of the people around her. But she can't get the words to leave her lips. She's never been exactly friends with both Hermione and Mary but right now she couldn't be happier about their presence next to her. She feels like fainting.

"He's just been arrested" Fred Andrews finally provides, and as if there had been any question about it, he continues. "For the murder of Jason Blossom"

And, hearing it again, Alice does something she's never done in front of people. She stumbles against the wall to her right, sinks down and cries.


	8. Chapter 8

Betty is there in a second, sliding down the wall next to her mother, taking the woman in her arms. She can't recall ever having seen her mother that emotional, not even when Betty had learned about her long lost brother, but then again, it's not every day that your boyfriend gets arrested for murder. One Betty would swear her life on he did not even commit. She doesn't even know what to say, so she opts for saying nothing, because empty platitudes and promises don't help anyone. She just holds her mother, while the woman doesn't even seem to care that she's having this meltdown in a hallway of her daughter's school with an audience present.

The audience, to their credit, try not to makes this even more uncomfortable by offering any words either. At least not to her. Jughead on the other hand is immediately bombarded with 'I'm sorry's' and sympathetic looks from all around him. He bears it for just that long, thinks about joining Betty in comforting Alice, after all he knows exactly how she feels, but all the attention is getting to him. He doesn't need this, it's too much for him and so he turns on his heels and leaves as fast as he could without actually breaking out in a run. What he needs now is space and piece and quiet to think about what just happened and not a bunch of people he, on normal days, mostly don't even interact with, telling him everything is going to be okay. Because it won't, he's sure. He would maybe believe it, if Betty or Alice try to to convince him of that, but then, the two Cooper women are the only ones in that group who even have the right to such words. They are involved in this just as he is, can't just turn their backs and go back to their own life as soon as they are certain they did everything possible.

Betty lifts her head from her mother's shoulder when she senses Jughead leave, catches nothing but a mere glimpse of him as he's already rounding the corner. She's torn between being there for her mother and her boyfriend and she feels guilty over it. Her boyfriend has just lost the last family he still has and his whole life is probably going to come crash down around him, she's sure he needs her, but her mother has just lost somebody, too. Her head tells her she needs to stay, this is her mother, but her heart is telling her to go after Jughead. The decision is made for her, when Alice turns to look at her.

"Go" she says, urging her daughter onto her feet. At the girls' reluctance Alice tries a smile. It doesn't reach her eyes and it's forced and it's effect is overshadowed by the tears still streaming down her face. "I'll be fine" It's a lie and Alice doesn't even have the strength to hide the fact from her face.

But Betty is still not sure about leaving her mother. There's really no one here she would trust to take care of her right now. But then, there is no one she could send after Jughead either. Her father might not be that much of an ass towards his ex-wife that this situation would amuse him, or even worse, not faze him at all, but that doesn't mean he wants to get involved any more than he already is. And he would probably not want to comfort his wife over the guy she left him for. She can't remember her mother being on good terms, or really * any * terms, with the other parents either, so that leaves only her as an option. But she's pissed with Archie and Veronica and Jug doesn't want to see them either right now, which means they are out, too. The girl is still debating what the best course of action is when she realizes her mother isn't cowered on the floor anymore. Instead, she's leaning against the wall, looking not one bit better than five minutes ago, Mary Andrews softly talking to her.

It makes sense, Betty thinks. Archie's mother is the only one who hasn't been in town for a while and, as far as Betty knows, the only one of them her mother hasn't clashed with before all this happened. Maybe there * is * someone she can leave her mother with and with a quick talk with her father, the girl informs Alice of her decision.

"I'll see you later?" Alice only nods and tries another smile that still doesn't look convincing. That would take a while. She'd be home after she's put herself together a bit and cleared a few things up. She'd like to talk to him, but she's certain she'd have to wait until tomorrow for that. She would still try, though. And then she would go home, where she won't be alone, because Betty will stay and Jughead probably, too and maybe it's for the best because she has no idea what she'd do if they left her alone right now.

This is not how she had pictured her future with FP. She loves him, and she doesn't believe he's guilty but he's still in jail right now and she thought they had let this part of their lives behind them. Her heart had shattered into a million tiny pieces when she'd heard Kevin relay the news and her first reaction had been to be angry. Angry with him for doing this to her. She had spent a whole minute mentally screaming at him and dumping him because she might have given up everything she'd known the last twenty years, but she hadn't signed up for this. They were supposed to build towards a new life together and not repeat old mistakes, and it just wasn't fair that he'd gone and gotten himself arrested just after they'd found each other again. She should be leaving him, not be associated as the girlfriend of a murderer.

But he didn't do it, she's sure of that. She knows him, knows about his tendency to do stupid things and break the law every chance he gets – at least that used to be him – but he's no killer. And it's not only the fact that she's head over heels in love with him, that has her say that. He had no reason, no motive, to shoot Jason and that thought is what she holds onto, because just her swearing he's innocent wouldn't help with the police.

And then there's this little voice she refuses to answer yet, that is persistently asking if it would matter to her if he'd actually did it. She's afraid the answer will be 'no' and what that says about her.

Alice needs and hour to finally arrive home, stepping through the torn down police tape and over the mess the search party and, it seems, Jughead has created. She doesn't find the children, but when she checks the second bedroom she finds them curled up on top of the blankets, fast asleep. She leaves them there, closes the door behind her softly and heads back out into the living-room. Another rush of anger floods her when she lets her gaze wander over the open space, traveling through the kitchen and the hallway leading to the bedroom. Closets have been ripped open, contents spread all over the place she can spot a mug or two, shattered from falling out off the cupboard, his work boots carelessly thrown out off the hall closet and some of her clothes lining the hallway, obviously in the way of whatever it had been they were looking for. And found, Alice reminds herself.

She had tried to talk with Sheriff Keller before coming home but the only thing she's achieved had been the permission to go back into her own home and take care of the mess they'd left. Nobody told her what they had found that incriminated him so much or for how long they were planning to keep him locked up. They hadn't even let her see him. Told her to come back tomorrow after they'd interviewed him and it had made her furious enough to leave before she'd done something she'd regret. They had messed up their house, dragged him off into a jail cell without notifying anyone – not her, not his son – and then they have the nerve to tell her they haven't even interview him yet, two hours later?! If she'd still been writing for the Register, tomorrow's issue would definitively not leave the Riverdale Police Department in a good light.

Wiping more tears from her cheeks Alice starts the task of cleaning up. She's not motivated enough to really do much, but she can't leave it like that either. Moreover she * needs * to do something. Having something to do keeps her mind busy and her thoughts away from that question that's still ghosting through her head. Would she mind if he actually * was * a murderer? She shakes her head, getting rid of the question once more. She can't think about this now, she needs to completely wrap her mind around what had happened two hours ago and needs to make sure his son is okay before she can even contemplate thinking about it.

"How is he?" She's putting away the remnants of what used to be a dining plate from the kitchen counter when she hears the quiet voice behind her. She's been extra careful not to make too much noise, but the children, just like her, are too exhausted to sleep properly. They'd been awake ever since she'd left the bedroom again.

"They didn't let me see him" She feels the anger rise in her again. It will make room for more sadness soon enough she knows. "I'm going back first thing tomorrow morning" They can't keep her from seeing him forever.

"Good" Jug nods, once, not really paying attention at all. "That's good" He starts pacing the newly swiped floor, mumbling to himself. Neither Alice nor Betty are sure he's aware of what he's doing . They share a look, silently daring the other one to approach the boy first, both afraid to bring him back into reality and not quite sure what to say to him when they do.

Finally, it's Alice who places the picked up shards into the trash and with a deep breath comes back fully into the living area. She walks over to where Jughead is still pacing and stops just in front of him. She doesn't dare touch him yet. "Jughead" No reaction, he doesn't even acknowledge he'd heard her. "Jughead. Stop!" She says with more force and suddenly the boy stills in his tracks and lifts his hooded eyes to look directly in her's. She can still see the tears he's trying to suppress. "It's going to be alright, I promise" She reaches out to touch his arm then, and he flings himself into her arms and lets the tears fall.

They stand there like this for a while, Betty having picked up the cleaning where her mother had left it, and it's when Alice leads the boy over to the couch to get more comfortable that she hears him whisper against her shoulder. "How can you promise that?" How could she, indeed, because right now she's not feeling like it either, but she's the adult here. She's supposed to be the one the children seek comfort in, not the other way around. And so she tries to push her own feelings as far down as they would go for the moment and decides to be just that. She can still revert back to crying when she's alone.

"Because I know your father" It's the truest thing that could have left her lips right now. No matter what else might happen, she * knows * FP and he's not a murderer and someone – they – will find out the truth and they will get back to trying to be a strange and dysfunctional family again. "And you have me and Betty. We won't leave you" She shares a look with her daughter she didn't need to, because there's no way Betty wold let either of them go through this alone.

It takes a long moment, but Alice feels Jughead relax in her embrace. When he leans back into the sofa and looks up at the two women he's stopped crying. He wipes the remaining wetness from his cheeks and, for a second, looks embarrassed about being caught crying. Then he seems to remember who he's with and didn't care anymore. "I used to think I know him, too, you know"

Alice trades places with her daughter, Betty gripping Jughead's hand as soon as she sits beside him. She observes the teenagers from her seat on the armchair and her heart breaks once again. Alice seems to have forgotten, that this doesn't only affect Jughead and her, but it does Betty just as much. "Do you think he did it?" She doesn't but she needs to know what the children think about the situation. She needs someone to help her find out what had really happened, because the police seem too confident that they got the right man and don't seem to be inclined to look any further. With whatever they'd found in the house, they were going to charge him without his confession and Alice swears she's going to do anything to prevent that.

"No" There's not the slightest question that she means it and Alice lets out a relieved sigh. One down, but Jughead's a wild card. He's had so many problems with his father in the past, who's to say he can't picture him murdering anyone. She looks at the boy expectantly.

"I don't know what to think" A deep breath and he rakes his free hand over his head, shifting the beanie in his wake. "Did you know that I came over for breakfast this morning?" Jughead looks over at Alice. She knows, so she nods at him once, not sure what he's trying to get at. Betty's hand tightens in his. "He was happy and sober, which I'm pretty sure is your doing, so thank you" He manages a small smile the woman returns immediately. Then his eyes cloud over again with his next words. "He read my manuscript, the one about Jason Blossom's murder and what he told me was that it was good and to leave it at that. To move on. And then he asked me who * I * thought had killed Jason" A few angry tears make their way down his cheeks again and he doesn't acknowledge them. "Hours later he gets arrested for that same murder, so, no, I don't know what to think, but I don't really believe in coincidences like this either"

It hits her hard, because she hadn't known about this. But she's still convinced of his innocence and she will continue to be until someone can proof to her without any doubt that he isn't. Only then will she dare to revisit that persistent question popping up in her mind over and over again. "Jughead, your father might be a lot of things, and I know you didn't get along for a long time and have just started to repair that relationship, but I can tell you what he's not. A murderer. And don't let anyone, not even your own mind tell you any different."

"Then how do you explain the police finding evidence of his guilt in his home?" He hadn't lied when he said he didn't know if he believed his father to be a killer or not, but the truth is that most of the signs point towards guilt and not innocence. And his father's girlfriend being confident he did * not * do it doesn't change the facts.

"It was planted" Betty's head snaps around to face the door where the new voice had just come from. The other two were slower in their reaction, but soon they are all staring at Veronica and Archie standing in the newly opened doorway.

"What are you doing here?" Betty demands, anger radiating of off her in almost visible waves. "I don't want to see either of you ever again" She's about to stand up and throw them out, her mother looking surprised at her reaction, but Archie's words stop her.

"I really think you need to hear this" He pauses for just a second to take a breath and then he continues before Betty actually kicks them out without them telling her what they came here to say. "Kevin says the police found a lock box in the closet with the murder weapon inside. But it was planted"

"Of course it was" Alice throws in, motioning for the teenagers to come in and close the door behind them. No one needs to hear this conversation other than the people in this room. "I live here, do you really think I wouldn't know there's a gun stashed in the closet?" It's the only reasonable explanation, somebody planting the murder weapon, but they don't have proof of that and it's sweet of Archie and Veronica to come all this way just to share their opinion on what had happened, but it wouldn't help anyone anything at all.

"No, what we mean is, that it wasn't there * before *" And Alice is about to ask what exactly that is supposed to mean, but a raised eyebrow from her daughter has Veronica guiltily confessing. "We might have broken in here when you where at dinner."She looks sorry enough and so does Archie. "But," she gets back on track "the point is, we found nothing. Nothing"

Alice decides to deal with the first part of this admission later, but she's still too startled to partake in the conversation. She lets Betty handle it, while trying to bring her heart and breathing back under control. It's still just two teenager illegally entering and searching a house, but it's still more than her insisting she should know about a murder weapon hidden in her home.

"You did * not * find any lock box in the closet or anywhere?" Betty needs to clarify once more. She feels the hope building in her chest. They need to take this to Sheriff Keller.

"No" Archie confirms once again. "Which means, he's being framed"


	9. Chapter 9

Alice wakes to the sound of someone working in the kitchen and just for a moment she smiles, thinks it's him making breakfast, before yesterday catches up to her again and she remembers, FP's in jail. She's slept for maybe an hour or two, lying awake in turns crying, being angry and trying to come up with a plan. Archie and Veronica had stayed for a while, talking, plotting, finding a way to proof his innocence. In the end, they'd come to the conclusion, that the information that had been so relieving to all of them is probably nothing they can use with the Sheriff. It would only get the two teenagers in trouble for breaking and entering and it's still not irrefutable proof. The statement of two teenagers, who are obviously friends with his son, claiming the murder weapon had been planted doesn't hold as much weight as a police officer pulling said weapon out off a closet in his house. Archie had, nevertheless, offered to ask his mother for advice, even if it means getting in trouble * there *. Alice had appreciated all the help and she could see that, while Jughead hadn't been completely convinced of his father's innocence, he's been seriously relieved by the fact that the gun seemed to not belong to the man. It still doesn't mean he's not involved, as the boy pointed out more than once during their talk, but it's a huge step in finding out the truth and if there's just the slightest possibility that FP really did not kill Jason, then Jughead was willing to help prove that. After all, the man is still his father.

Hours later, they had gone to bed, more because it's something they should do rather than an actual want to. Neither of them was tired and thought they were able to sleep anyway, but the exhaustion had made them at least try. They would be no good to FP if none of them was able to stand upright the next morning. Archie had promised to tell his father Jughead would be spending the night at the trailer before the boy could even voice the thought and Veronica had promised to be by sometime tomorrow to help with the rest of the clean up. Alice had never been so glad her daughter didn't listen to her when she'd tried to make her ditch them. They might not be flawless, but right now they seem like the best friends a girl could have asked for.

Alice herself had stayed up for another hour after sending the kids to bed. She'd aimlessly picked up some stray clothes or magazine and let it fall in the exact same place again, her mind not on her task at all but on the last few hours. She'd dealt with Archie and Veronica's break in by giving them a piece of her mind and extracting a promise that the come clean to their parents before she would, but in the end she couldn't deny the fact that not so long ago, she might have even encouraged it. And then she reached the question of who would want to frame him for murder and that's when she decided to stop and head to bed, too. He used to be in trouble with a lot of people back when he was sixteen, and so had she unfortunately, but she can't see any of them holding onto a grudge for that long. But she hasn't seen or spoken to him in the last twenty years, and so there's really no way to know if there's someone pissed enough at him to do that, or who. And they might have talked about a lot of things since being back together, but asking him how many people might want to see him rot in jail for a murder he didn't commit has never really been anywhere on that list. For a brief angry moment she thought that, with FP, maybe it should have but then she shook her head to chase it away. She's not mad at him, she knows she has the right to, for putting her through this, but she really isn't. It's one of the only things she knows without a doubt right now. The other is, that no matter what happens – with FP, with Jughead or with Betty and Jughead's relationship - she will be there for his son.

She likes the boy, had from the moment Betty had introduced him as her boyfriend and would she still be with Hal, Alice wold still do everything to keep Jughead out of trouble and safe. He deserves nothing but the best and, after everything that had happened that day, he definitively deserves a family that will take care of him, even if it might not be his own at the moment.

Alice takes her time getting out of bed, giving the two kids a few more minutes for themselves, but when she enters the kitchen finally, Betty's alone. The girl has put on a pot of coffee and cooked up a batch of pancakes Alice has no idea where she got the ingredients for; she's even set the table for three but Jughead is nowhere to be seen. Alice thinks he's probably still asleep, but Betty spots her standing in the doorway, shrugs her shoulders and answers a question Alice hadn't asked yet.

"He left when it was still dark" Another shrug. She doesn't know how to handle such a situation since she's never been put into one. "I guess he'll be back" Should she have tried to stop him? Should she have woken up her mother immediately and go look for him? It's not like she's ever had to deal with a question like that.

"What do you mean, he left?" Her head whips around mid pour and she almost burns her fingers on the hot coffee. This can't be happening. She'd just promised herself she would look after him and now she doesn't even know where he is? At seven o'clock in the morning? Taking care of Jughead might require a bit more work than it has with Betty and Polly she realizes.

"I don't know. He just got our off bed a few hours ago and went out. I have no idea where to." Betty walks over to the table, takes a seat and casually starts on her breakfast. She's aware that she did the wrong thing in not preventing him from leaving, but she can't take it back now, so there's really no point in arguing over it. And she knows Jughead, he'll be out clearing his head somewhere and then he'll be back. Maybe, with some probing, he might even share his thoughts then.

Alice is still debating calling Fred to ask if Jughead is with them, when the door opens behind her and the boy in question walks in. He looks like crap, tries to hide it when he realizes he's not alone anymore but doesn't really do a pretty good job of it. Whatever it is he had been doing had upset him even more then his father's arrest. Both Alice and Betty can't think of anything though and pushing him now would probably result in him shutting himself off. So Betty offers him breakfast and the seat next to her and Jug accepts thankfully and Alice thinks that maybe she's seen a tiny smile trying to break free.

Jughead's munching on some pancakes when he finally speaks and the content of his sentence has Alice almost choke on her coffee. "I almost bought a ticket to Toledo" Alice doesn't know much about his mother's life over the last twenty years, just like she hasn't known about his father's, but even she's heard Toledo is where the woman moved to after she'd left FP. And she doesn't begrudge him wanting to see his mother and his sister, but how the hell is she supposed to explain the fact that he just up and ran away in the middle of the night to his father? "Don't worry, I'm not going" And it's said with such an heartbreakingly sad undertone that Alice can't help but think that * he * hadn't been the one to change his mind.

"Jughead, if you want to see your mother..." She is about to tell him that she'll help him in whatever he needs, but he shakes his head, cutting her off.

"She doesn't want to see me" The remainder of his breakfast is all but forgotten, while he rips a last, cold, pancake to shreds with his fingers. How could he have been so stupid to think the woman who'd left him here four years ago would want him now? She could have taken him with her when she left and that she didn't should have told him everything he needs to know.

"I'm sure that's not true" Betty tries, reaching out to put her hands over his, stilling his assault on the food. He turns one of his hands around, lacing his fingers with her's, drawing comfort and strength from the girl that's been there for him whenever he needed her.

"I called her, told her about my plans. About what happened" He stops there, not able to say anything more. He's done a good job of keeping his tears and frustration at bay when he'd been on the phone with his mother, after all the woman that doesn't even want him doe not deserve to see his emotional side, but now he doesn't care so much. He's not outright crying, but he doesn't bother hiding what he's feeling either. "She said it wasn't a good time, that I shouldn't come" Betty squeezes his hand in her's searching for the right words to say, when her mother beats her to it.

"Listen Jughead, I know she's your mother and it hurt a lot when she rejected you. Today and when she left. And believe me, I am not trying to take her place, but you should know, that whatever you need, you can always come to me. No matter what they charge your father with, I'll be here for you" She touches his shoulder briefly, looking him directly in the eyes to convey the truth behind her statement, hoping he would see it, too. She knows how hard it is, growing up in a shabby trailer on the Southside, with parents that can't or won't be be there for you and support you. Maybe if she had someone like herself back then her life would have turned out differently. She prays his does and that he won't end up on the wrong side of the tracks.

"I know that" He says honestly, gripping the hand on his shoulder for a moment. It doesn't take the sting of his mother's rejection, but it helps a lot to know that he's not alone. And that he never will be. "You don't even know how grateful I am for that" And there's a genuine smile splitting his lips. He's about to say more, he wants to know if he can stay and so many other things, but Betty's phone bleeps in that moment, startling the three of them. She opens the text message absentmindedly, because she is sure it's either Veronica telling her when she'll arrive or her father asking her when she'll get home. What she reads then however, makes her face pale and she needs to take a few deep breaths before she can manage any single word.

"Kevin just texted me" She has their full attention now. News from Kevin surely means news about FP. "He's just confessed" And she sees two faces fall before her own.

"He's what?!" Her mother's out of her seat and on her way to the bedroom in a heartbeat. She emerges back into the kitchen not five minutes later, hastily dressed in what Betty assumes are clothes that have just been lying around and were quicker to grab. She was headed towards the police station after breakfast anyway, but now she can't get there fast enough. The last thing she hears after telling the children where she's going and grabbing her purse and car keys, is Jughead muttering to himself. She's sure she's heard a distinct 'I knew it' in there somewhere. She wants to stay and be with the teenagers, convince them everything will turn out okay and that there is no reason for losing hope, but to do that, she needs to know what is going on. She needs to know why he confessed to a murder they had proof of he did not do. Something wasn't right here and she is determined to find out what it is. She hasn't spent all that money and time on her journalism career for nothing after all.

It takes her a solid thirty minutes before either of the officers even considers letting her see Sheriff Keller and he tells her absolutely nothing. He says FP confessed, in great detail, what he'd done to Jason Blossom and, paired with the gun found in his home, it's enough for a murder charge. He presents her with no details on what exactly FP said or why or why the hell neither his son nor her had been notified of any of this. The words she's saying and, seemingly more important, the ones she tries not to say have her almost thrown out of the building more than once and it's only after another fifteen minutes of discussing and prodding that the Sheriff finally allows her access to the holding cells. He walks her down himself, tells her all the things she is allowed to and not allowed to do - as if a simple rule would keep her from touching him or kissing him – but doesn't follow her inside. He's decent enough to let them have this conversation alone. After all, he's already said he did it, what else is he going to say the police needed to hear?

"What are you doing here?" His first words upon seeing her is not what she has expected. He's slumped against the far wall on his cot and regards her warily. She thinks he might even be angry at her.

"What am * I * doing here?! * I * didn't just confess to a murder I didn't commit" She walks over to the bars, leans against them, rules be damned, and searches his eyes. He does a pretty decent job of avoiding her though.

"Neither did I" He hasn't moved and he's not looking at her and she feels the tears well up in her eyes. This is not how this is supposed to go down. He is supposed to be happy to see her, happy to hear she's doing everything she can to proof his innocence and then he's supposed to kiss her until one of the officers kicks her out. This right here is just wrong.

"See, that's where I don't believe you" She swallows the tears, puts on a brave facade and plays with the pink threat on the inside of her leather jacket. If he won't look at her, she needs something else to do, because she will not stare at him until he gives in.

"You should" It's all he says, shifting his weight to make himself more comfortable, closing his eyes with his head leaning against the wall. He seems to be finished with the conversation. Unfortunately for him, she isn't.

"That's not you" She hopes it sounds as steady as she intended it to be, because she can feel her voice wavering, her eyes giving way to the tears threatening to fall. She won't do that here, especially not with him ignoring her. She might cry with him, but she will not cry * over * him.

"Tell me which part of this is * not me *" His eyes are still closed and he still refuses to acknowledge her. He doesn't know why she's here when she shouldn't be. He had known from the very moment he'd fallen in love with her, that he wasn't good enough but she wouldn't see it then and she seems to not see it now either. So he has to * make * her see. She's better off anywhere else but with him and he will never regret the weeks he had her back, so she needs to be just that. "You know me, Alice"

"Yes, I do know you" She's not leaving and she thinks it's time for him to realize that, because this conversation would be going much smoother would he just stop ignoring her presence. "And that's exactly why I know you're not a murderer" He opens his eyes finally, but the look he sends her is everything but what she wants to see. There are tears glistening in the corners so she knows he does care, but overall his expression is impassive, like he's not even in the conversation.

"You should go" She sees him try to wipe at his eyes without making it too obvious what he's doing and she knows she's getting through to him finally. "Take care of my son for me?"

"Oh no, you will not get rid off me that easily this time..." She has so much to say, but it gets swallowed by the tears leaving her eyes when she sees his reaction. He looks heartbroken and she knows exactly what he's trying to do next.

"Alice, please" She's made that mistake once before already and she's not about to repeat it. He will just have to live with that.

"No, I let you push me away once and I regret it still. I'm not letting you do this again" She grips the iron bars with both her hands, steadying her to something because she feels like fainting any minute. She hasn't slept and all this excitement is getting to her. But she won't be giving in she tells herself.

"I am being charged with murder" Does he really think she doesn't know that? It's the only thing she has been thinking about the last hours.

"You didn't do it" She still believes that, he can see it in her watery eyes and he loves her even more for believing in him despite the clear evidence against it. He still has to convince her otherwise though, it would be easier and safer for all of them.

"And what if you're right? Huh?" Finally he gets up from his seated position and walks over to where she stands. He grips onto the hands that are tightly wound around the bars and searches her eyes intently. He looks just as miserable as she does. "They're still charging me with it"

"So I'll wait for you"She wiggles her hands free from his grasp and laces their fingers together properly.

"And what if you're wrong?" It's almost a whisper. It pains him to ask, because he knows the answer and it's the only answer he wants her to give anyway, but it needs to be done. If she won't leave if he tried to break it off with her, he needs her to be the one ending it. It's the only way.

"So I'll wait for you" And she means it with all her heart. It is exactly what she has been afraid of because she doesn't know what it says about her, but not even him killing someone changes the fact that she's in love with him and that she'll always will be.

"Don't do that" He's shocked and she can see it clearly. He's also incredibly moved by her unwavering love for him, let's his tears stream freely down his face. He could wipe them away, but that would mean letting go of her hands and he's not prepared for that yet.

"I've spent the last twenty years without even seeing you so, if necessary, I will spend the next twenty five visiting you every day"

"Don't do that" He pleads again. There's nothing he would want more, but he knows it's not the right thing to do or say. He can't be selfish here. He needs to thinks about what's best for her – again. "You have the rest of your life ahead of you. I want you to spend that happy and safe and the way * you * want it to."

"Then don't get charged with murder and come home" Her voice breaks on the last word and she's glad they're alone down here because nobody needs to see her break down like that again.

"Alice..." It's a last, vain, attempt at changing her mind but the way she looks at him he's too late.

"I'm not leaving, FP" He pulls her nearer by their joined hands until the bars between them hinder her from getting closer. "I love you"

"I love you, too" And then he kisses her with all the emotion he feels but can't put into words, their tears mingling together on their lips but neither of them cared. They have each other, and that has to be enough for the moment.


	10. Chapter 10

She spends way more time than she thinks anyone would be allowed to down by the holding cells and it's probably not the goodness of his heart, but rather the fact that she still holds enough of the respect people had towards her, that drives Sheriff Keller. When he does finally come to get her he doesn't even comment on the scene he'd walked in to. She knows she's not permitted to go near the bars, let alone touch him, so she's a little surprised when the Sheriff just raises one eyebrow at her when she leans forward and kisses him good-bye. She'll be back as soon as they let her.

He had asked about his son and her and Betty and how they were all holding up. She'd been honest with him and she hated how heartbroken he'd looked but he needed to hear the truth. What good would it do if she told him they were all doing fine. He'd asked her what made her so sure that he didn't actually do it and she'd told him about Archie and Veronica and the gun and that she can't explain it, but even without those factors she wouldn't believe him to be a killer for a second. Then he had told her she's crazy for standing by someone who is most likely going to be convicted of murder and she had laughed for the first time in the last fifteen hours.

She had also told him about Gladys and how she had refused to take Jughead in despite being his only family at the moment. It made him angry, she could see that and she would have much rather liked for his son to say himself, but if she knows one thing about Jughead it's that he won't confide in his father. She had calmed him down, expressing how much of a shitty move it is on the woman's part but promising to be there for his son no matter what. In the end, FP had agreed, that as long as he had Alice, Jughead doesn't need his mother. And he'd swear that he never felt so much love for the woman than right in this moment. She's under no obligation whatsoever to look after his son as long as he's incapable of doing so himself and still, there's no hesitation on her part to offer him all the help with the boy he needs. She'd also made it clear, that even if FP had succeeded in pushing her away again, she would never have abandoned Jughead like this – or that she would have convinced Hal of taking the boy in had the last few weeks not happened.

What she didn't do was ask him why he said he did it. He still hadn't admitted he's been lying and though she still believed he had she didn't want to fight. She'll prove he's innocent and when he gets out of jail she's going to get the whole story from him and she won't let him hide behind a fake confession then. And even though she desperately wanted to know what drove him to do it, the more important thing right now was to find evidence against his guilt – evidence she is not going to get from him no matter how hard she'd try. She'd also not been sure at this exact moment what would actually be worse – him being charged with murder and serving a twenty-five year sentence or him admitting he lied about the confession and getting charged with god-knows-what else wherein nobody can predict beforehand how many years of jail time that would accumulate to.

He'd seen how hard it was for her to not confront him about it again, to not plead with him to take his confession back, to not even ask. It had hurt seeing her like this and he'd sworn to himself he'll make this right every chance he gets, but the truth was something he could not tell her. At least not yet. Maybe, when enough time has passed, he would come clean about his motives but in doing so now, he would put his family in danger. He knows Alice can look after herself and, to some extend, Jughead can, too. He's not sure about Betty but then, he doesn't know the girl as well as his son and girlfriend. He * definitively * knows that Alice would do anything to not let any harm come to either of the children, but he thinks twenty-five years of jail time is a good exchange for her not having to do that.

He had tried to get back to his seat by the far wall when he heard Sheriff Keller approach because he didn't want to get her into any more trouble, but she hadn't cared. Only tightened her hold on him even more and kissed him as the door behind her opened. He'd smiled against her lips. She'd been making a statement, for everyone who will undoubtedly start talking behind her back soon, if they didn't already. Nothing, not even the minor setback of a murder charge, was going to keep her from him and her old life on the Southside. She will not be crawling back to the husband she still technically has and beg for forgiveness and a second chance. She didn't regret one single moment since the night he'd first kissed her after twenty years. And when people want to look down on her for that, let them. She's done caring what over people think of her and her life choices. When she'd finally left, she promised him to be back tomorrow, exchanging a look with Sheriff Keller as if daring him to forbid her that.

She spends another fifteen minutes trying to extract any information she can get from the Sheriff but in the end she's not one bit wiser than she had when she'd come in. All she achieves are a few sympathetic looks she's sure are not even genuine and a general timeline on how fast cases like this will most likely be processed. There's always a bit of room to maneuver but she's told that whatever she or his son still have to say to him should be done in the next few days. As soon as he's being transferred and put on trial it might get a little bit harder to see and speak to him – at least for a while. Alice keeps quiet about the gun, not wanting to drag the teenagers into this, too, but she still slips into conversation that she'd know about anything incriminating FP in a murder that would be hidden in the trailer, since it's her home, too. Sheriff Keller doesn't even acknowledge that, but she didn't think he would either. Of course she would lie for FP Jones, especially after the scene he'd just walked in to.

Leaving the Police station at last, she makes a quick stop to get some groceries and, after a short debate with herself, decides on Chinese take-out for lunch. Betty had texted her while she'd been with FP to say Veronica and her had cleaned the trailer of all evidence of the police raid and that she was going home now so her father won't worry but she'll be back later. Later turns out to be now, since the next text she receives is asking where's she's at and how long she'll be. Jughead is at Archie's at the moment, but he's expected to be by any minute now, too. So Alice phones in an order for food, puts only the most necessary of things into the cart, ignores the open stares she can feel on her back and is on her way home in less than half an hour.

Betty's impatient to hear how her visit with FP went, the question is almost the first thing out of her mouth when Alice walks through the door, but the girl bites her tongue. She knows she should be waiting for Jughead to hear what his father had to say. That doesn't mean it's easy, waiting. Especially since her mother seems to be in a good enough mood for someone who has just been visiting her lover that's been charged with murder. Alice eases her mind by telling her everything is fine at least between the two of them and that they will continue finding out the truth.

They have lunch alone, but Jughead had actually called to say he will be late and had readily accepted the take-out waiting for him at home. He sounded strange, Betty realized, but then again who wouldn't with your father being arrested. And, as much as she loves Jughead and her mother and wants to be there for them in all this, all the time, right now she has other issues to talk with her mother about. She just has no idea how to approach what she'd uncovered when she'd gotten home earlier.

Alice, however, can see her daughter's incredibly distracted and she has the slight suspicion, that is has nothing to do with FP and Jughead. She asks flat out what's on the girl's mind and the way Betty averts her eyes and bites her bottom lip has her suspicions confirmed. She still wants to know what's going on though and so she pries until the girl finally gives in and tells her about her father admitting to being the one to break into Sheriff Keller's and destroying evidence. She doesn't tell her mother how she'd found out because that would involve telling her how she'd yelled at the man for a good thirty minutes about how selfish he is and that he's not the slightest bit better than the woman he resents for cheating on him. She's sworn she's done with scenes like that, so she probably should not mention that to her mom.

And then Betty asks her mother if she'd knows that they were related to the Blossoms and the look in the other woman's eyes is everything she needs for an answer. Alice obviously had no idea, but she comes to the right conclusion even before Betty can tell her. Hal had told her about the abortion he had arranged for Polly, that's why she'd kicked him out after all, but he had never offered an explanation. Now, it makes perfect sense. Polly's twins share the same blood on both sides and the only person who had seemingly known that hadn't bothered to come clean about it before, back when they would have still been able, maybe, to prevent the relationship and the pregnancy. She knows now, why Hal had been so determined for Polly not to have the babies and it makes her sick to think he'd known all this time.

But, apparently, the Blossoms were aware of the fact, too and now Alice also understands why Penelope had done everything she could to keep the girl with them. She doesn't even dare to ask, but Betty assures her she'd begged her father with everything she has to go and get Polly home and that's exactly where she is right now. Resting, healthy, content and, unfortunately, not in the mood to see or even speak to her mother. She'd come to terms with her parents' divorce and with her mother's new relationship, she'd even come to actually like the guy. But he had killed her Jason and she can't and won't ever forgive him for that and in turn she doesn't know if she can ever forgive her mother for choosing the murderer of her grand-children's father over them. Betty had tried to reason with her, told her FP is innocent but she'd gotten nowhere and in the end the girl had to admit, that no matter what * she * thought, maybe they should wait until they find actual evidence of who did it before arguing the fact.

"I still don't think he did it" Betty clarifies after she's done recounting her talk with her sister. She looks at her mother and sees a smile grace her lips at the thought that she won't have to do this alone. Betty knows her mother would never drag her into this investigation if Betty herself thought FP is guilty. "But mom, what happens if he did?" She can see the pain in her mother's eyes at the question, but she needs to ask. She needs to make sure that Alice knows what she's getting into and that what they believe could just as easily turn out to be a lie and he'd hidden the murder weapon himself after using it to kill Jason. Again, she doesn't believe that, but they need to be prepared for that scenario, too.

"Then he'll be charged with murder and found guilty and put to jail" It's a matter of fact answer that tells Betty exactly not what she wants to hear, but Alice is afraid of repeating what she's told FP in the morning. There, it had been just the two of them and she had meant it just as much as she does now, but she had not have to justify her decision. She has no idea how Betty will react, and she knows exactly how Polly will react. She's done such a good job of repairing her relationship with her eldest daughter, to be part of the twins' lives that she's terrified of losing it again. But she won't give him up either. So she takes a deep breath, looks at her empty plate as if it would tell her the right answer and hopes Betty will drop that particular conversation. There's another one to be held anyway, and * where * exactly was Jughead anyway!?

"Mom" But if course the girl is not satisfied. She drags the words out like it is made of at least ten O's and raises her eyebrow inquiringly in a perfect imitation of her mother. If she weren't so irritated at her daughter right now, Alice might actually be proud. Another minute of silence and Betty grabs for her mother's hands, and the way she looks at her makes it clear she's not kidding; that Alice is not getting out of this talk.

"What do you want me to say, Elizabeth?" She pulls her hands away and gets up from the table to pace up and down the empty space of the dining area. Every now and then her fingers rake through her hair while she's trying to string words into sentences. "I don't just think he's innocent, but I know it with all my heart. No matter what * he * says, * I * know he's lying. The thing is, " Another break to gather her thoughts and then she's saying everything she's been afraid of uttering in front of her daughter. "I am so in love with this man, that I don't * care * if he's guilty or innocent. He could have killed Jason Blossom and god knows how many other people and I wouldn't care. I am not leaving him. For no reason whatsoever. Not to go back to your father, not to not be associated with a murderer, not to please you children. Is that what you wanted to hear?" She's worked herself up into tears that she lets freely stream down her face. It's just the two of them here and she doesn't mind Betty seeing how this is affecting her.

She's pictured every possible way Betty could be reacting to her confession, but the girl enveloping her in a tight hug and whispering soothing words into her ear has not even made the list. She's surprised but happy and it confuses the hell out of her that Betty takes her outburst so lightly. Isn't she supposed to come to her sister's defense and demand for her to break off all contact with the man that is responsible for the death of her niece's and nephew's father?

"Do you understand how hard this is for me?" She's calmer now, but she needs to make Betty see that she's not generally avoiding the topic but that she has honestly no idea how to approach it. And then she realizes that, yes, her daughter does understand. Jughead might not have been actively involved, but he's still FP's son and Betty has no intention of letting him go either. "I don't want to lose either of you girls, but how do I tell Polly I don't hate the man that might have killed her boyfriend? How do I justify staying with him?"

"You don't" Betty answers, leading her mother over to the couch and making herself comfortable against her side. "She'll just have to live with it."

"Thank you" Her voice is a little hoarse from crying but she puts all the emotion and meaning into it she can.


	11. Chapter 11

When Jughead walks into the door, the scene on the sofa has dissolved enough for mother and daughter to comfortably be watching some movie, patiently waiting for the boy to arrive home. And looking at the boy's face it's a good thing they have resolved their conversation from earlier. He's not crying and Alice is glad for that, because she has promised to take care of him and be there for whatever he needs, but she knows him good enough to have figured, that crying is nothing he'd normally do, and it makes her just that bit uncomfortable and a lot scared to see the boy break like that. What he is however, is visibly angry and neither of the women know what about.

Their best guess is of course his father, maybe he'd been to see him. But he'd been mad at the man last night, too and it looked nothing like what's happening right now. His beanie is clutched in his hand and it's all the indication Betty needs to know that it's serious. He doesn't take it off for nothing. When Alice pauses the film, Betty immediately gets up from the couch and her mother's embrace and envelops Jughead in a hug without thinking about it. The boy hesitates for just a moment before relaxing into the motion, but then he sinks into his girlfriend's arms and lets her comfort him. She doesn't know yet what has him so upset, but it doesn't matter. There's nothing she wouldn't comfort him over. Betty leads Jughead over to the couch, sitting down in the seat she'd vacated moments before, pulling him down beside her and wrapping her arms back around him. Alice leaves them to it, giving them some space and alone time to talk about it. If she's supposed to be part of this conversation, they know they can come to her, but she won't impose herself on something that, quite possibly, doesn't have anything to do with her.

That had been her the last twenty years, always being kept in the loop about any going ons, never able to keep her mouth shut and her thoughts on the matter to herself. It had been a great way to show the world around her that she's better than them and, in turn, maybe make them forget that she ever used to not be. And she hadn't really cared, that most of the people in Riverdale seemed to not like her, because not associating with them in general was better than having people walk up to her and call her out on her bullshit. She even has to, reluctantly, admit that there had been a time where she didn't even realize how she behaved and didn't understand why certain people hated on her so much. Today, after leaving all that behind her and feeling so much more than herself than she had the last two decades, she knows, she would have hated herself then, too. Bitchy and stuck up is everything she never wanted to become, but when it happened she hadn't even consciously realized it.

But that's not her anymore. It might only have been a few weeks, but she has felt the change almost immediately. The moment she's discarded the designer costumes and the immaculate outside appearance, she'd known her view of other people had changed, too. She's wearing jeans and shirts that reveal glimpses of her snake tattoo, hair falling around her face just the way it does, and a leather jacket showing her affiliation with a biker gang. So even if she wanted to, who was she to look down on others? She'd lost that right ( not that people actually ever have that anyway) the moment she decided to leave her husband and she finds she doesn't miss it. It's a refreshing change not to overthink anything she does and calculate what other people might think of her for it. Her boyfriend's in jail, on trial for murder, for the father of her grandchildren of all people, too, and she's not running back to the life where people weren't looking down on her. If that isn't any indication that she's so much different than the Alice she's been the last two decades, then she doesn't know what is.

So, she lets the children have their privacy. She can't deny she's curious as to what happened, but everyone probably would be, but she's also not controlling anymore. The days where she tried to tell her daughters what they were and weren't supposed to do, who they were and weren't supposed to hang around with are over, just as much as she doesn't mind them keeping some things secret from her. Just like every mother would. If that means she needs to wait for one of them to come to her with their problems, then that's what it takes. And if neither Jughead nor Betty would ever tell her what had him so upset when he came home, she'd have to live with that, too. She registers the surprised look from her daughter when she steps into the hall and makes her way into the bedroom, but she just encourages her with a smile and it's all Betty needs to know she'll still be available if they need her. And she's sure she can see the gratitude in the girl's eyes, too, for not getting involved just because she * has * to.

She realizes too late, that she has absolutely nothing to do in the bedroom, but in the small trailer there is really no other place for her to go to give them privacy. She could have sent them into the second bedroom for their talk, then she would have had access to the living area and the kitchen, to at least be able to do something, but that seemed like a stupid idea anyway. Veronica and Betty had not just cleaned up the mess the police left, but also put the trailer in a state of cleanliness it hadn't been in since she had started working at Pop's and was out off the house during the day, too. The only thing she could be attempting to do is maybe laundry, but she'd done that the day he'd gotten arrested, so there's not really much accumulated to warrant loading another load into the machine. It would also have her in hearing distance of the teenagers, and if they don't want her involved, than eavesdropping would not be appreciated either.

So she sinks onto the bed, hugs his pillow close to her and thinks back onto their conversation earlier. She doesn't believe him when he says he's guilty, has made it clear more than once, and she doesn't understand why he insists on being guilty. Innocent as he is, he should be thrilled at the prospect of them proving it and not encourage her to drop it. She's determined to find out what's going on. She won't confront him with it anymore though, at least not for a while, because she's not getting any further doing it. When he's proven innocent and out off jail, however, she plans on telling him exactly what the hell she thinks about all this and nothing, not even the fact that he knows she won't be leaving him, will soften anything she has to say. She thinks it would probably hold more weight if she hadn't promised so insistently that she'll be staying with him no matter what, after all, there won't be any chance he'd fear her breaking up with him during that talk, but she won't be Alice Cooper if she wouldn't find a way to make it intimidating nonetheless.

It takes not ten minutes before she's pulled out of her thoughts, that had gradually turned into what she'd do with him * after * chewing him out. The knock on the door is tentative, as if they weren't sure about disturbing anything, but Alice calls them in without hesitation. She could use the distraction anyway. She's not sure how healthy it is imagining screwing her boyfriend on the same couch their respective children were currently sitting on.

It's her daughter that enters and the girl closes the door behind her and takes a seat next to her on the bed. Alice is curious now, incredibly so. She'd left them together in the living-room, one of them obviously upset, and now Betty doesn't really look that happy either. Something must have happened, and they need her help, or the girl wouldn't have come. But does Jughead know Betty is going to involve her in this? He's not here with his girlfriend, come to think of it, Alice doesn't even know if he's still in the house, and the door is closed so he won't overhear should he be around. Maybe the boy doesn't want her knowing what's going on, which is fine by her she tells herself more than once, but then Betty should not go behind his back to her either.

She's put out of her misery of not knowing pretty quickly though, too, when Betty leans her head onto her shoulder and lets out a deep sigh before speaking. Alice can't help but note that this is probably the closest the two have been in a good long while, she's just not sure if it's worth all this heartbreak. "He says Archie's dad is kicking him out" It's soft and almost a whisper and Alice can hear how this is getting to Betty, too.

"Fred's what?" She doesn't believe it. No matter what she had thought and said about the other families before, there is also no way she thinks Fred Andrews would do that. He's taken the boy in when he didn't have anyone else, making sure he's not going down the wrong path and not even FP being in jail would be any reason for Fred to want to cut ties with the innocent teenager. "Betty..."

"It's what he said" A shoulder lifts and sinks in a shrug against her own body. Betty's managed to calm Jughead down, get just the barest of information out off him and then sat him at the table and put his re-warmed Chinese take-out in front of him, before going in search of her mother. She doesn't really believe Archie's dad would do that either, but at the moment it's all she knows.

Jughead hadn't said he doesn't want Alice to know, but he hadn't said anything about telling her right now either, so Betty decided she won't go behind his back by asking her mother for help. Maybe she could talk to them, or maybe she could take the boy in, or maybe * something *, as long as it helps. She's about to ask what they can do, if there even is something they can do, but she's interrupted by a knock on the door.

Again, Alice calls him in without thinking about it and when he opens the door, Jughead stops in the open doorway and looks around for a moment. He hasn't been in here since Alice had moved in, has not been in there often before also, but he can see the changes immediately. It doesn't look all that much different, but the open closet shows glimpses of women's clothing, one of the dressers is decorated with all kinds of make-up and jewelry. And, even though his father is not here, there is a Serpent jacket hanging over the back of a lone chair.

He seems uncomfortable for just a moment, but when Alice gets up and pulls him into the room, he comes willingly and settles next to Betty while Alice is leaning against the headboard. She hasn't had a conversation like this in ages, ever since her daughters have been old enough to do their own thing and she started to push them away by being overprotective, so she savors the feeling of intimacy and trust this setting brings. And she doesn't want to be the one to break the comfortable atmosphere surrounding them, but someone has to and it doesn't look like any of the teens will do that soon.

"Jughead" She starts eventually, because it's no use dragging it out any further. Sooner or later they'll be having this conversation anyway or he wouldn't have come to her. "What's going on?" She opts for omitting the fact that she already knows, but would rather hear the whole story from him, than bits and pieces from her daughter.

He takes a deep breath, lets it out slowly and rakes his hand through his hair once, twice. He's still not wearing his Beanie and Alice doesn't think she's ever actually seen him without. "With my dad in jail, I'm being put into a foster family"

So that's it, Alice notes with relieve. Fred is not abandoning the boy, but there is probably nothing he can do about the situation. He's neither direct family nor approved as a foster parent. She's sure he'll try everything he can, but for the moment it seems like Jughead will have to move to the Southside permanently and he feels left behind.

"Maybe that's not so bad" It's a question if anything and it's clear from her voice that she doesn't really believe it either. "At least for a while. Until we get your father out off jail" It won't take that long anyway.

"He's not getting out" Jughead's face falls as he says it. He had enough time to think this all through this afternoon and he'd come to only one conclusion. "He killed Jason and he's going to prison for it." Another pause where he's not sure if he dares to break the two women's hearts, but he sees no way around it. "I believe him"

"Oh, Jughead" Betty engulfs him in the tightest hug she can manage, but she's not trying to convince him otherwise. She doesn't believe in his guilt, but if it is what Jughead believes right now, then it's what he believes. Talking him out off it would only result in an argument because neither of them would give in and so showing him support is better than the alternative.

"What made you change your mind?" Last night he had been neutral enough to go with the possibility of innocence, and now he's convinced of the opposite.

"His confession. The evidence. I don't know, everything?!" He's pulled out off Betty's embrace, but he keeps a hold of her hand, laced their fingers for strength. Alice sits up straighter, focus solely on the boy and the conversation at hand. "But it doesn't matter anyway. The foster family is arranged and I need to move, no matter how long he's going to be in jail for"

"But maybe it really won't be that bad" This time it's Betty who tries to assure him. What can change exactly, just because he doesn't live with Archie or his father anymore?

"I would need to move back here, to where I never wanted to live. And I would have to change schools." His gaze drops to the bed in front of him and his voice becomes softer at his next words. "We won't see each other as much" And Betty squeezes his hand, assures him there will be nothing that would keep her from him, not even separate schools and he drops a quick kiss to her lips, not even the slightest bit embarrassed that her mother is sitting right across from them.

"Jug, why don't you..." But Jughead had come to the same idea and now two pairs of eyes are fixed onto the adult and the boy cuts her off.

"Why don't I just come live with you?" Alice had known that this would come and she's prepared an answer while listening to the teens being sweet and mushy.

"I..."

"I need to change schools anyway, so why not move somewhere I actually * want * to be?!" A smile comes to her lips hearing that. She loves that he feels comfortable enough to want to live with her even without his father being around.

"I..."

"Yea, mom, this is such a good idea. Please don't say no. This is the best solution ever" And she also smiles at her daughter's enthusiasm, but she's getting just that bit annoyed at being interrupted every time she tries to say something. So, this time, she holds up a hand to stall their words.

"If you'd let me finish you'd already know that I have an idea" Two sheepish 'sorrys' are thrown in her direction and then she goes on. "I can't foster you officially" She's not approved and won't be now, going through a divorce and with her boyfriend on trial for murder. "But, you can stay here as long as you like, this is still your home after all, too."

She's actually hugging two ecstatic teenagers and she's so surprised that she needs a whole thirty seconds before she remembers to return the embrace. Then the children start to chatter and plan and thank her and Alice can't help but laugh at the scene before her. "We still need to talk to your social worker about all this" She reminds them, but it's no use. They are not listening anymore and for the first time in the last few hours they seem to be genuinely happy about something, so she decides not to disrupt it with reality for the moment.


	12. Chapter 12

It's Betty who gets her hands on the evidence that exonerates him and even though she's extremely proud of the fact that she managed to do so, she still has everyone promise not to ask where she got it from. She shows up with the USB drive burning a hole in her pocket, just minutes after Alice gets back from another visit to FP in jail and her mother looks happy enough to have been allowed that time, that she's unsure of ruining that mood. Because what's on that drive might help them get FP out of a murder charge, which in turn would make everyone very happy, the actual content might not be happy at all.

She hasn't seen it yet, too afraid of what she will look at, but the fact that it is supposed to be proof that FP hadn't killed Jason, Betty can imagine rather vividly what she has in her possession. And as much as she wants to put all of this behind her, she is not sure if she really wants to see for herself, in great detail, what had actually happened to Jason Blossom. But there's no use in dragging this out any further. If she doesn't go to the police with clear evidence of his innocence, FP is going to be charged with murder and soon, because with his confession, the police have stopped looking for clues and evidence. The confession paired with the gun found in his home makes this an air-tight case and there will be no waiting around for someone else to come forward and claim responsibility.

She drags Jughead out off his bedroom, which he's been in the process of making * his * again, and Alice out of the kitchen where she's been starting on lunch because she'd known Betty wanted to come over. Her mother and boyfriend share a look over the blonde's head, but neither of them had any clue as to what could be so important. They are, of course, still waiting for any information that would proof FP hadn't shot Jason, but for all they knew, Betty had been home with Polly since last night and if neither Polly nor Hal had confessed to actually being the killer, there is no way Betty has any evidence in that matter.

What they don't know is, that Betty hasn't spent all morning babysitting her pregnant sister, and she would really like for that to stay that way. In truth, she'd been meeting with Kevin at Pop's after breakfast who had told her that his Serpent boyfriend wanted to talk to her. So they had met up with Joaquin and had gotten the surprise of their lives. He had told Betty where and how to find the security footage of the moment Jason Blossom was murdered and had begged her for an hour to get his stuff together and leave town. She's granted him that because the boy had been nothing but good to Kevin and in all honesty, she didn't believe the footage would show Joaquin committing the murder. It had taken her and Kevin half an hour to get their hands on the USB drive and then she had sent him to look for his boyfriend. She'd given him an hour and he still had half of that time left. And when Joaquin was safely on the way out off town, she would be waiting at her mother's to watch the video together.

When Betty pushes the two unsuspecting people down onto the couch and boots up her laptop on the coffee table she can feel the questioning gazes on her back. She ignores them for a while longer, pulling the USB drive out of her jeans pocket and putting it on the table next to the computer. She doesn't dare plugging it in yet, for fear whatever video is on there will autostart and then there'll be no going back anymore. Before they watch this, she wants everyone's agreement, nobody should have to see it if they don't want to. Maybe, Betty thinks, it would have been enough to just take it to the police in the first place. What do they have to know what's on there? As long as it gets FP out off jail it shouldn't matter. And it doesn't, but curiosity is a strange thing.

"Betty, what is going on?" Her mother reaches out to still the teen's trembling hands on the keyboard. It's a nervous habit Alice recognizes from herself.

"Will you just give me one more minute please?" And right in that moment there's a knock on the door and the blonde gets up from the chair she's been sitting on and is over by the front door before her mother can even make a move. Alice isn't expecting anyone, apart from the Sheriff with maybe an apology, but the way her daughter strides over to open the door, she has a pretty good idea who is on the other side of it.

When the door opens, Archie and Veronica step into the trailer, followed by Kevin. Alice and Jughead share another short look between them, because as much as they know Betty and Kevin have a deep friendship, they haven't seen her hang out with him all that much since Veronica came to town. And it's clear that neither of them know what's going on. They don't push, however. Whatever is so important that it requires all of their presence, Betty would tell them soon enough or they would not be here at all.

Betty though, is taking her time getting to the point, ushering her friends over to her boyfriend and mother, not giving anything away and leaves the five of them to a short conversation while she is preparing drinks in the kitchen. She hears the conversation move from greetings to speculations about what this is supposed to be and she hopes that Kevin won't let anything slip while she is not prepared to say it out loud yet. She has no reservations about telling them that she found evidence of FP's innocence, actually she can't almost contain that part of the news, but she also knows, that the moment she reveals that part, there's no way she can keep the contents of the flash drive a secret. And * that * is what she is still afraid of. Does she really want to see Jason getting shot? Wasn't it better to hear through the police who they have arrested for the crime? The answer is yes, but she also knows, that everyone here would probably want to see it, too.

She moves back into the living area with a try full of iced-tea and places it next to her laptop, trying not to look at the flash drive. It's staring at her like it's taunting her and she needs just one more moment in which things are normal – or as normal as they are right now anyway. Then she takes a deep breath and takes a seat in the armchair the others had left empty for her. It's now or never and she has no method of procrastinating anymore.

"FP's innocent" It's the general opinion in this room, except maybe from Jughead, and so the statement doesn't really get a reaction at all. The only thing she receives is a raised eyebrow from her mother and a questioning look form Veronica. There's really nothing any of them had been up to today anyway, but coming over just to hear Betty say what they all knew was a little unnecessary. "Before I go on, you have to promise not to ask how I got this information"

Four people agree immediately, because they are really intrigued right now and they want to know what the hell is going on. Alice takes a while longer to convince. She's been a mother long enough to know that if a sentence starts out like this, it can't be good. And she naturally needs to know what trouble her daughter had gotten into. It's her job to protect her children and she'd be damned if she stopped doing so know. But, in the end, she reluctantly agrees to Betty's condition. She has her ways of extracting the important information from her daughters or even their friends without actively breaking her promise. She's had a long time perfecting that, too.

"On this" She takes the flash drive from the table and rotates the object between two fingers. It feels even heavier than it had in her pocket on the way here. "Is a security video showing what had happened to Jason Blossom. And" She adds quickly when she sees four people trying to interrupt her "while I have not seen it yet, I know for a fact, that it does * not * show FP shooting him"

"Elizabeth..." And she knows she promised, but that had been before she had known that the girl had probably broken into somewhere and stolen evidence. A look from her daughter cuts her off though, because even though she's the adult here Betty is also right. Knowing how she got her hands on the video makes her essentially an accomplice in the break in and theft and as much as she wants to protect her daughter from the repercussions this action will have for her, she's still better off not knowing all the details. She still tells her daughter silently that they will revisit this conversation once they were alone. "Okay, but why is it here?" That video should be locked into evidence at the police station and not decorating her living room table.

"Because I thought we want to know what's on it first" She averts her eyes from the woman in front of her and studies the color of her shoe laces. There are six people in this room all together, but she feels like she's alone with her mother having a contest of wills she is gradually loosing. And then, much to her surprise, Alice reaches out her hand towards Betty and extracts the object clutched into her fist.

Alice knows, the right thing to do it not watch this, to bring it to Sheriff Keller and get it over with, but her journalistic curiosity has gotten the better of her and she really, really wants to know what's on that video. She pulls the laptop closer to her, ignoring the wide eyes of the teenagers around her. She won't plug it in with them here when they don't want to see it, but she's also aware that she can't really make them leave if they don't want to. She's the authority here, that's true, but the boy sitting next to her is FP's son and if he really wants to see what happened to Jason Blossom, if he really wants to see with his own eyes that his father did not shoot him, she won't forbid him that. And that fact makes it impossible for her to forbid any of the others the same right. It's not ideal and definitively the wrong thing to do, but right now, she doesn't care. All she wants is to see for herself the proof Betty had found for her boyfriend's innocence.

One question and five confirmations and Alice takes a deep breath and plugs the drive into the laptop. The folder that opens up contains exactly one video file and before she finally opens it, she makes sure a last time, that all of the present are okay with seeing what's on there. And then she clicks play and holds her breath.

The video is as bad as she had thought it to be, and even though it clearly shows Clifford Blossom shooting his own son, it's not as exonerating for FP as she had hoped it to be. He's on it, too, 'only' handling the body of an already dead teenage boy, but he is clearly more involved in all this than they had hoped him to be. But, for Alice and it seems Jughead, too, the most important thing is, that the man did not, in fact kill Jason. The revelation eases both their minds a great deal and for a while neither of them notice the other teens around them, shocked to the core by what they'd just witnessed.

In the end, it's Veronica who reaches across coffee table and closes the laptop without pausing the video. They had seen enough, she thinks, and there is not a single member of their little group who disagrees.

Alice, Betty and Jughead find themselves in Sheriff Keller's office not even thirty minutes later, the blonde handing over the flash drive along with a (partly) made up excuse on how she'd gotten it. The Sheriff looks at it, leaves the room to do so. He's pretty sure they've already watched it, but this is still police business and nothing for the public eye. Alice takes this time to berate Betty for lying to the police, but in the end she has to admit, that she did not really want to handle a break in charge on top of this drama. Just before Sheriff Keller comes back into the room, she finally extracts a promise to tell her the whole story from her daughter later.

Sheriff Keller informs them that the murder charge will be dropped in light of this new evidence and when Jughead asks when his father will get out off jail, they are told that he won't. It makes the boy angry listening to Tom Keller list off all the things FP is going to be charged with instead of murder and no matter what Alice tries, she can't calm him down. So, as much as she would like to see him and ask him what the hell he was thinking confessing to murder and being involved in the clean up of it, she sends Jughead to talk to his father when the Sheriff allows one of them to see FP.

It's another fifteen minutes later, which the two Cooper women have spent waiting patiently in the front hall of the police station, when they learn the real reasoning behind FP's confession.

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 **This is more of a 'filer' Chapter to show a bit more emotion and thoughts of my favorite people, establish the facts like i need them for this A/U-ish fic and to move things along a little. From next Chapter on, I will start to focus on Episode 13. I promise there will be more original content coming that I work into canon, soon.**


	13. Chapter 13

In celebration of tonight'S new episode, here is another update for you guys. And, given that I don't die after I can finally see it tomorrow, I will celebrate with at least another chapter tomorrow :)

enjoy and tell me what you think :)

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A/N: I want to make one thing clear once before I go on, even if I am a hardcore Falice shipper, I DO NOT hate Hal. I actually like him good enough and so I will NOT portray him in any bad light he's not in right now just to bash him

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She sleeps incredibly crappy that night and not even the fact that she had just proven her boyfriend's innocence in the murder of a teenage boy had done anything to change that. She can't get the image of Clifford Blossom shooting his own son out of her head, followed by FP cleaning up the mess. It's worse seeing that, than him just confessing to murder without visual proof, but the thing that has her up most of the night is the realization that she still doesn't care. Of course, she will still have that conversation with him in which she will ask him what the hell he had been thinking, but even clear evidence of his involvement won't make her turn her back on the man she's been in love with for the last twenty-two years.

She spends a lot of time justifying it to herself, because she's not the same Alice she used to be when they were teenagers. Even with her going back to the Southside, she's changed a lot during the last two decades and she's not the girl anymore that was proud of being in trouble every chance she gets. She's not following him into stupid situations anymore and stand beside him wearing a proud smirk when they get caught. She's older and wiser now, and she cares about what other people think of her. And still, she's staying with a criminal with no intention of letting him go.

And then she realizes two things. First and foremost, she doesn't need to justify any of her actions to anyone. Ever. It's just like Betty had said when she had been afraid of Polly's reaction – it's her life and whatever she decides to do with it, the others will just have to live with that.

Second, it's crap. She has not changed from the troublesome Southside girl madly in love with her boyfriend all that much in the last twenty years. And she had known that before; she'd felt it when she'd done the serpent dance and put on her leather jacket, when she'd been making out with him in a booth at Pop's not caring that the rest of Riverdale would see them. She'd felt it when she'd moved in with him without a second thought or hesitation. And she'd * known * without a doubt when she told him she won't leave him even if he was a murderer.

She gets up in the middle of the night, sleep nowhere in sight, and gets her laptop from the living-area. Jughead is asleep in his bedroom and, as much as she hates to admit it, she has no idea if Betty is here or not. The girl had gone home from the police station, Hal and Polly had been leaving messages all day asking when she'll be home, and though Betty had promised to spend the night after seeing her father, Alice doesn't know if she ever showed up.

She takes a short look into the boy's bedroom, just to be sure. There are no phone calls or text messages from Hal that indicate Betty isn't were she is supposed to be, but Alice is just plainly not sure * where * this is right now. Opening the door, she sees the two teenagers curled up together under the covers and she's so glad to not be alone in the trailer right now, that she even lets slide that one of them is supposed to sleep on the mattress next to the bed. She leaves them to it, happy that at least someone here is able to get some sleep and closes the door behind her silently again. She debates staying out in the living room, but the light and her typing might wake the kids and that's the last thing she wants right now. So she grabs her laptop from the end table, fills a glass of water from the tap in the kitchen and goes back into the bedroom as silently as possible.

Alice might not work at a newspaper anymore, or at her own for that matter, and she actually likes her waitress job, but she is still a journalist at heart. And with all the drama they and the town had been through in the last few days, she has more than enough to write an article on. She hasn't talked to her husband since the day FP had gotten arrested, but strangely enough, the arrest had put them on more even footing than their last conversations had, and she thinks, that even if he might still not be interested in actually being friends, he might let her publish her article in the Register. And if not, she'll find another way to get it out – not the High School Paper because what she intends to write is nothing she wants her daughter and Jughead to get in trouble over.

Most of all, she needs to get it out, find a place to put all the anger and emotion she's feeling right now, and she doesn't feel comfortable putting that load onto the teenagers, too. They have their own feelings about whole situation and she's supposed to be the one being there for them if they need her help and not the other way round.

She settles back against the headboard, laptop propped on her thighs and the moment her fingers hit the keyboard, she's typing away like she's never done anything else in her life. The words just keep coming and before she even registers it, the sun is creeping through her bedroom window and she brushes away a few angry tears she hadn't known she'd cried. With a final look, she finishes her not-necessarily objective article, saves the document twice, just to be absolutely sure, and reaches for her phone. First, she checks the time and with a sigh decides she needs to get up and make breakfast. No matter what's happening, Betty and Jughead still have school and she fully intents to have them attend. Then Alice opens her text messages and, with held breath, asks her husband if they could meet at the office later.

She's just about to wake the two sleeping teenagers in the other room when her phone beeps. She hasn't really expected an answer so soon, and she's a little afraid that this'll mean he don't want to see her. She finishes her task first, knocking on the bedroom door and opening it slowly to tell them to hurry with getting ready, since breakfast won't be long. She is greeted with two almost completely dressed teenagers, hair still wet from their (Alice hopes) respective showers, and she is surprised she hasn't heard any of that. Just as she is about to leave them to the rest of their morning routine she hears Betty's phone indicate a text message and when the girl picks it up she has to roll her eyes.

"Dad says to just read the message and text him back, it's nothing bad" And her tone makes it rather clear that she will not be used as the go-between in their marriage problems.

"I will, don't worry" She should have known Hal expects her to sit on her phone waiting for a reply. After all, he doesn't know anything else. At the prospect of juicy details for a new article or a message from their daughters, there is nothing that could keep Alice from her phone. "Now hurry up you two, breakfast is in five minutes"

Maybe she exaggerated a bit, but she wanted them to get a move on and get to school on time, after having something to eat. Alice hasn't even started on that yet, and now her top priority is seeing what Hal had to say about her question. Breakfast could wait another two minutes. As it turns out, Hal had not only been waiting for that message but also already knew what she wanted to talk to him about. And, as much as she had hurt him with the whole thing, he is not an ass. FP might, in his opinion, deserve a good batch of bad luck and a horrible rest of his life for stealing his wife, but being on trial for murder he didn't do is definitively * not * what he would wish anyone. And that also means publishing the article that his cheating soon-to-be ex-wife wrote in defense of the guy she is seeing now. All he wants to know is when she wants to drop by and to have the article with her.

When the children finally make it out off the bedroom, Alice has just finished setting the table and pours three glasses of orange juice. She's dressed in one of his shirts and a robe and without make up it's pretty easy to see that she hasn't really slept last night. Betty asks her once if she's feeling okay, but she waves the girl off with a shrug and diverts the conversation onto Jughead's meeting with his social worker this afternoon. The boy has been reluctant to talk to the woman because he still dies not want to move into any foster home, but Alice and Fred alike had made him see reason. No matter if the conversation will take place or not, Jughead will have to be part of the foster family and this way he could at least ask his own questions and see if there was any way he could unofficially stay with Alice at the trailer.

"I'll be moving in, too" Betty suddenly says, during a lull in conversation. It's so unexpected that even Jughead stops eating and eyes his girlfriend.

"No you're not" Is all said girlfriend's mother has to say about the topic. She loves her daughter, both of them really, but they are well better off in the house they grew up in, in an environment they are accustomed to. And with their father – the last thing she wants is for Hal to think she's trying to turn his children against him.

"I can't stay in that house right now" Betty complains and, for the first time in a while she sounds like the sixteen year old she is. "Dad and Polly act like everything's normal. It's driving me crazy. It's like none of this ever happened"

Alice heaves a sigh, suppresses the smile that tries to come to the surface at hearing that, because where it might still be wrong, maybe Polly will talk to her and hear her out now. This is a thought for another day. Then she rakes her hands through her messy hair, sends Jughead a look that clearly says 'help me out here' and turns back to her daughter. "Betty, please, I do * not * want to drag you into mine and your father's mess, but you know exactly why I can't have you move in here" Jughead takes Betty's hand in his when she tries to protest and whispers something Alice can't understand but Betty keeps quiet and Alice is glad for the boy's help. "You can come over as often as you like and stay here as much as you want, but please, go home to your father at least half as often?!" It's a try at a compromise and Betty seems to take it.

"Are you going to see my father later?" Jughead asks to change the subject. He's afraid even though eight now it looks like it, Betty wouldn't drop it so easily.

"Yes" There's no hesitation in her answer. No need to think about it for even the slightest of seconds. She's promised him a visit every day for the next twenty-five years if necessary, and that's exactly what she will be doing. "I can drop you off at school if you like, then I am going to the Sheriff's station"

A look is shared between the teenagers, before Jughead answers. "That would be cool. I'll bring her home after school, since I have my meeting at Archie's anyway" Alice smiles a genuine smile at him, because she realizes he gets it and he wants to protect Betty just as much as she wants to and she's suddenly incredibly glad that the two of them had found each other.

"Okay, you take care of the dishes while I go shower?" She's greeted with immediate agreement and makes her way into the bedroom to gather her clothes. When she comes back out, clothes in hand, on the way to the bathroom, she hears Betty's phone again which is followed seconds later by Betty's voice.

"Mom, Polly wants you to come by later"

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Next up: Falice cuteness

After that: my attempt at fixing the Alice/Polly relationship (Again)


	14. Chapter 14

Next Episode Theory: FP behaves like an ass in the diner and realizes what he did and shows up at the school play and kisses Alice in front of all those people!

That's probably wishful thinking, but I still want to be able to say I SAID THAT TWO WEEKS AGO :D :D :D

(And, if someone has actually seen that episode already, please, do NOT tell me I'm wrong (or even surprisingly right xD) I wanna see that for myself)

* * *

If she's honest with herself, Alice is a little disappointed that Polly had not asked her directly but had gone through Betty. She has not talked to her eldest daughter since FP had gotten arrested and the last she knew is that Polly hates her for sticking with the presumed murderer of her children's father, but still. The girl has her number, she could just as easily send a text to her phone instead of her sister's. Nonetheless, Alice lets Betty text her back with a time and that she is looking forward to see Polly. There's no reply to that and Alice thinks it might have been too much to ask for at the moment.

When she drops Betty and Jughead off in front of the school she has them promise to keep her updated on their respective tasks set for today. Jughead is still grumpy about the social worker meeting, but he has realized that it is only in his best interest. He will be there, he will ask a few questions, he will address moving into his dad's trailer with Alice and if that won't work out, he will find a way to move in there anyway instead of with his foster family. Alice doesn't even try to talk him out off that plan, because she's promised FP and Jughead alike, that the boy can stay with her as long as he likes and if * he * doesn't find a way to convince the social worker, than maybe she could.

Betty has set her mind on talking to the Principal and the Mayor, since she knows the letter is spending a few hours of her time in the former's office recently, to organize the 75th anniversary jubilee Riverdale is having in a few days. That jubilee is also exactly the reason she wants to talk to them. She had been approached a few weeks ago, if she would want to give a speech in representation of the whole school and Betty had not declined, but she had not actually accepted, either. But she knows, for a fact, that there is no one else they have approached yet and recent events had her reconsidering and now she wants to do the speech. She's not so sure though, if she's still expected to come to them with an answer. After all, she's dating Jughead Jones and her mother is involved with the arrested criminal himself. She'll try nonetheless and she'll fight tooth and nails to be able to stand in front of all of Riverdale and say what she has to say.

The drive to the Sheriff's station seems way longer to Alice than it normally does, but she thinks it has something to do with the fact that she's nervous about seeing him. She loves him, that hasn't changed even after all she has learned in the last twelve hours, and she had promised herself not to confront him while he's in jail; to cherish the hour they are allowed to have together a day. She's pretty sure it's the Sheriff not wanting to deal with her that allows her that long a time and as soon as he's transferred to prison, she won't have half as much. That's why she does not want to spend the precious moments fighting with him, but that doesn't mean she does * not * want to tell him exactly what she thinks of his stupid actions and demand an explanation, the sooner the better.

She takes a very long time just sitting in her car on the parking lot of the police station, calming herself down and hoping she will make it through this visit without causing a huge fight. She won't be allowed to see him again today and when she storms out off there in a rage she will have to spend a whole day not knowing if he hates her for saying those things and hating herself for saying those things to him. She'd come back tomorrow, apologize and pray that he forgives her for being a selfish bitch while he's the one behind bars, but she'd rather not have to do this. For a moment she thinks about not showing up at all, but she has promised him a visit every day and, no matter how mad she actually is at him, she really * really * wants to see him, too.

Sine they had gotten back together, they had both spent enough time apart to not get on each other's nerves at each other because of that, but they had also still spent the majority of almost every day together. She doesn't think she will ever get tired of seeing him every day and having him there to even just complain about the customers at Pop's, and that as long and as often as she wants to. And now, she can only see him a maximum of an hour each day and it's not nearly enough and she so desperately needs him to get out of jail and come home and she probably won't let him leave the house or her side for ever.

When she finally has herself in check enough to exit the car she checks her phone one last time for the time and if there has come in an important message she has not noticed while being so deep in thought. Satisfied that she hasn't missed anything vital, she throws the device into the glove compartment and gets out. The weather has cooled down and, where there is now snow, it's till chilly enough that she is, for actually the first time since she changed, glad that she had traded her skirts and designer pants and heels for simple jeans and boots. They * are * just that tad bit warmer when the wind is grazing her legs. Though she's pretty confident she has calmed her nerves good enough to not snap at his every word, she makes her way across the parking lot slowly; she's still afraid she'd act without thinking again and the fear of him finally having enough and leaving her for good is creeping up in her gradually like she hasn't felt it since she was a teenager.

Just like every other day she has to wait another fifteen minutes at least until any one of the officers even acknowledges her presence, because they know why she's here and letting her see her boyfriend is just not priority number one right now – or probably ever. This time, however, she is not even really upset about it. They have all their hands full with the end to an investigation in the murder of a teenage boy, the apparent suicide of said boy's father slash killer and charging FP with, it seems, anything they care to come up with. It also gives her even more time to forestall the inevitable. All the calming down and overthinking it had only brought her to one conclusion. If she wants to or not, she * will * be saying something to upset him or act accordingly or both.

When they finally acknowledge her waiting more patiently than before in the hall, there's an exchange of short looks between them, Alice notices but decides not to comment on. Despite her thoughts, she still wants to see him and picking a fight with the police officers was a sure way to get kicked out without seeing him today – or the next few days probably, too. She's shown to Sheriff Keller's office immediately after being greeted and it's just that bit suspicious, she thinks. She'd been talking to Tom every other day, too, getting permission to get into the holding cells, but normally this was done in passing. When one of the officers takes her down to see FP, because really there is no permission they need to get but they still like to show that they could forbid her that one hour she has with him, Sheriff Keller is generally waiting somewhere in the hall for just that exact moment. With a quick nod and a polite greeting, he let's them pass and that's normally all the interaction she has with Tom in those situations.

But ten minutes later, she knows exactly what she had been send to Sheriff Keller's office for, and she also knows way more about the crime and FP's involvement in it than she had ever since he had been arrested. She had begged and pleaded and threatened and tried to bribe every single police officer for the last days to just tell her * something * because she was his family and has a right to be informed of such things. Nobody ever really told her anything though. Until they were desperate enough to need her help.

Another five minutes later, and she's led the familiar path down the hall to the holding cells. She had been informed, that he would be transferred out off here pretty soon. The officer unlock the outer door for her, waits until she has it firmly in her hand so it won't shut and lock again, then he turns and leaves her alone. His post is a few paces down the hall, far enough to give people a tiny bit of privacy but still near enough to be in hearing range should any visitor want to leave earlier than he is instructed to let them out again.

FP gets up from the cot against the far wall when he sees the door open and wraps his hands around the metal bars. He has a smile on his face, because he just knows exactly who is on the other side of that door, but it gradually vanishes when the door stays ajar but nobody enters. First the smile morphs into an expression of fear; did Clifford Blossom go back on his promise just before he hung himself?! But then it changed into a frown, it's Alice alright, and she's making sure she's not saying or doing anything she'll regret after leaving. And, ironically, that thought brings the smile back onto his face.

At least until she finally steps into the room. "Hi" He says cheerfully, incredibly glad to see her. One hour a day is not nearly enough with her.

"Hi" She replies, but that's all she does. She's not coming nearer, not ignoring all the clear instructions * not * to approach him, even though he's not a murder suspect anymore. All she does is stay exactly where she is, arms crossed over her chest.

"Judging from your face, you have seen the video" Sheriff Keller had told him there was video evidence of him not shooting Jason Blossom and, that an anonymous source has come forward with it. Jughead had told him last night, that the 'anonymous source' was Betty and that they both knew what exactly was on the tape.

This time she doesn't even bother replying. A look and a raised eyebrow is all her gets. * Go on *

"And you probably have heard the other part from Jughead, too" Of course she did.

"I have" It's short and clipped and almost cold and he heaved a sigh. He had hoped her calming techniques outside the holding cells would have worked. She had had the same hope, and she had been pretty sure they did, until she'd seen him and the anger had come flooding back. They are in love with each other. You don't do that to people you love.

"Look, Alice, I'm sorry..." But he doesn't get any further and he's honestly not sure what he would have said right this moment other than * I'm sorry *

"No, I have every right to be mad right now" She shifts her weight from one heeled boot to the other, uncrossing her arms and playing with the hem of her leather jacket. Her left one is fisted into the material deep enough to prevent her fingernails from hurting her palms (it's been years since she had to do this), and her right one is absently tracing the pink thread she'd sewn into the fabric twenty years earlier. "What the hell were you thinking confessing to a murder you did not do and being involved in the clean up of said murder?!"

He tries to interrupt her, to tell her that he has no idea what he had been thinking. At least not with the second part. And she knows exactly what he had been thinking about the first. But she doesn't let him get a word in.

"And you know what the worst part is?" She looks at him challengingly, but he has enough experience and sense of self preservation, that he knows when to keep his mouth shut. "That you did not even trust me enough to take care of our family. That you had to make that deal with Clifford Blossom to know the kids will all be safe!"

"That's not true, and you damn well know it, too." He might know when to keep his mouth shut, but that doesn't mean he will just let her say things that could not be farther form the truth – especially when he knows she's aware of that, too, but she's too stubborn and into this to see it. "I love you, and I trust you with my life and my son's life in a heartbeat and in every regard. But I did not want to drag you – any of you – further into this mess than I already have. I wanted you to be able to live a normal life and not worry about Clifford Blossom all the time"

"I..." She's still trying to argue, he can hear it in her voice. So, this time it's him who interrupts her.

"And can we maybe fight about this some other time? When I'm not so incredibly happy to see your gorgeous face and have you here with me despite everything I did?" He even uses the smile she can't resist; hasn't been able to ever since she'd first met him. And, six year old FP Jones had been acutely aware of that back then, too.

"Damn" She breathes, untangling her fingers from her leather jacket. "Even with you behind bars I can't stay mad at you" She finally makes her way over to him, stops just right in front of the metal bars separating them and raises her hands to lace her fingers through his. This is what she wanted from the start, she had told herself she would not be fighting with him today, that the inevitable conversation can be put off just a bit longer and she's so glad to have found someone who just gets her and knows what to do or say to calm her down before she takes it too far – mostly. "And when do you believe is a good time to fight about this?" As far as she's concerned, he's always happy to see her. "And never is not an acceptable answer" She adds on a slight laugh.

"When I'm out off jail?" He playfully avoids her eyes. There is no way she will put off that talk for the next twenty years and he thinks it's probably not healthy to do so anyway, but he also thinks it was worth a try. Especially when he hears her really laugh at it.

"I hear this could be sooner than we all think?" She purposefully phrases it to sound like a question while she's playing with one set of their joined hands. He's lightly brushing the thumb of his other hand over the back of hers.

"I'm not doing it" There's also no question here that he means what he says.

"Didn't think so"

"So Sheriff Keller did not ask you to convince me to change my mind?" He doesn't believe that. Tom Keller has been paying him a visit twice every hour since he had informed him of the new developments in the case and had pressured him into giving up his Serpents involved in Clifford's drug trafficking in exchange for a way lighter sentence than he's facing now. His answer had been no from the start and he had not changed it yet and he had no intention to either.

"Oh yes, he did! But I knew you wouldn't and I will not talk you into betraying our own" She leans forward to kiss him then and he wastes no time reciprocating, because he has missed her. By the way she's kissing him, he can only imagine that she did miss him, too. Very, very much, that is.

They kiss for a long while, only breaking momentarily when they need to take a breath and it's exactly what she needs to forget that her head wants to be mad at him. She awkwardly threats her arms through the bars and rises up on her tiptoes to rake her fingers through his short hair and he's holding her as close to his as he can with his arms just as awkwardly wound around her waist. She's pressed into the hard metal bars between them, but she doesn't care. As long as she can be near him and kiss him right now, she doesn't care about anything.

"So, tell me what has been happening outside these walls?" He asks when they finally part for good. She stays just as close though and he doesn't even think about taking his hands back.

"Your son has his meeting with the social worker after school and I think he won't like what he'll hear" A slight shrug of the shoulder accompanies the statement and she doesn't meet his eyes. She's promised to take care of Jughead.

"He's a smart kid, I'm sure he has already figured out, that they will not officially let him stay with you" She looks back up at him when she takes her chin in his hand and lifts her gaze. He's not disappointed like she had expected him to be for breaking her promise. "Don't underestimate him though, he'll find a way to move in. And then you'll wish he had been staying with the foster family" It's a joke and it gets the intended result. She's smiling at him again.

"I have been raising two teenagers, too, you know"

"I hate to break it to you baby, but one of them is pregnant and the other one is dating my son" The meaningful and stern look he tries to pair with the statement falls completely flat when she laughs right in his face. "And you had a whole lot more space than a tiny trailer"

"That's true" She admits, still laughing. And then she suddenly stops and turns serious again, at least more serious than she'd just been. "Speaking of, apparently my eldest daughter and her father are acting crazy" He doesn't ask in words, but the question is so apparent in his eyes, that she answers it before he has to voice it. "They're playing the perfect family, acting like everything is normal, like nothing has even happened"

"It could be the shock" He says, dropping a light kiss onto her lips again. "I mean, Polly * had * just found out that her future father-in-law had killed her fiancee." It's the only explanation he is able to come up with, unless... But he's not worried about that, because even if Polly is trying to use this denial tactic to get her mother to break up with him and move back home, there are two important things the girl's not factoring in. Alice has no intention of leaving him, and Hal has no intention of taking her back.

"Betty is trying to get the speech at the jubilee, but again, she's, too, will not like what she'll hear" Alice tries to change the subject again, and FP is just as ready to leave her husband behind.

"If they take the task from the most qualified student at that school, just because she or her mother are associated with me and the Serpents, than it's their loss. And, quite honestly, they should be ashamed of themselves." And again, he knows exactly what is going on in her mind and what she wanted to say.

They talk for another twenty minutes, before the officer shows up again to escort her outside. This time, Sheriff Keller is waiting in front of the door, in the process of entering and interrogate FP once again, and at his questioning look all Alice does is smirk. Did he really think she'll be so quick to betray her own?! Just before the door closes behind her she can hear FP let out a short laugh and she'd swear Tom letting out a sigh.

Then she's off to meet her daughter.


	15. NEW CHAPTERS COMING VERY SOON

Hey guys,

I know I haven't been updating this story in a while and I am sorry for that. There have been some unexpected personal stuff coming up, because of which I couldn't write as much as I wanted to.

I have decided to use that little time I had to focus on doing the episode fix its first, because they were just kind of time sensitive. Then I needed to finally write down the Same faces AU I have been promising for ages, so this story kind of got pushed back.

BUT, I am hard working on the last of the AU chaps and it should be out tomorrow and after that I will get back to This story and the rest at of my Expectatikns series!

A few things I want to say about the future of this story:

1\. There will be more original content mixed into canon in the next chapters!

2\. This story will end with FP's release from jail!

3\. I will try to wrap this up in 10-15 chapters max, so I will be skipping more time in between than I have up to now. I will however NOT leave out any major storyline leading up to that point!

4\. There will be a 3rd part to this story, in which I will (probably) ignore most, if not all, canon happenings after FP getting out off jail. I will venture back into my own AU after that point!

5\. As soon as I get back into writing this, there will be at least 2 updates a week (more if I can manage to find the time)!

6\. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR READING THIS AND STICKING WITH ME THROUGH IT! I APPRECIATE ALL OF MY READERS AND I HOPE YOU WILL CONTINUE TO GO ON THIS JOURNEY WITH ME! I LOVE YOU :*

I'd appreciate it if you guys would tell me if this story is even still worth continuing and if you are still (im) patiently waiting for the next chapters!

Love and hugs and kisses,

J


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